Stefanik calls Cheney ‘Pelosi pawn’ over Jan. 6 criticism

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) called Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) a “Pelosi pawn” Tuesday night following the first day the House select committee investigating the Capitol insurrection heard testimony from Capitol Police officers. 

During an episode of Fox News’s “Hannity” Tuesday night, the No. 3 Republican said, “when it comes to Liz Cheney, she is a Pelosi Republican, a Pelosi pawn at this point.” 

“She does not represent the Republican conference, or Republican voters, or the American people,” Stefanik added.

Stefanik calls Cheney a “Pelosi pawn” pic.twitter.com/Zse7RTxw5C

— Acyn (@Acyn) July 28, 2021

Cheney, a vociferous critic of former President Trump, was chosen by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to serve on the select committee to investigate the events of the deadly Jan. 6 riots. 

During the first day of hearings Tuesday, Cheney offered a cutting rebuke of the former president and his role in the attack, asking Capitol Police officers who were present on that day what they thought of Trump’s comment that the rioters were a “loving” crowd. 

“When you think about that and share with us the vivid memory of the cruelty and the violence of the assault that day and then you hear former President Trump say quote ‘It was a loving crowd. There was a lot of love in the crowd,’ how does that make you feel?” Cheney asked U.S. Capitol Police Officer Aquilino Gonell. 

The officer responded: “It’s upsetting. It’s a pathetic excuse for his behavior, for something that he himself helped to create — this monstrosity. I’m still recovering from those ‘hugs and kisses’ that day,” he said.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) made similar remarks to Stefanik on Monday, deriding Cheney and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), the only Republicans serving on the panel, as “Pelosi Republicans.”

Stefanik’s comments on Tuesday mark the latest back and forth between her and Cheney.

After Stefanik said earlier on Tuesday that Americans “deserve to know the truth — that Nancy Pelosi bears responsibility as Speaker of the House for the tragedy that occurred on January 6,” Cheney hit back at her remarks on CNN’s “The Lead.”

“If I were saying the things that you just played, I’d be deeply ashamed of myself. What happened is absolutely clear. We had, as we heard this morning, just intolerable cruelty. A mob that was assembled by President Trump, was provoked by him,” Cheney said.

Stefanik took Cheney’s place as the House Republican Conference Chair in May after Cheney was ousted in a private vote.