Trump calls Liz Cheney a ‘smug fool’

Former President Trump on Wednesday called Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) a “smug fool” after she pressed the House to back a criminal contempt vote against former White House aide Stephen Bannon. 

“Low-polling Liz Cheney (19%) is actually very bad news for the Democrats, people absolutely cannot stand her as she fights for the people that have decimated her and her father for many years,” Trump said of the Wyoming Republican, who voted to impeach Trump and serves as vice chairwoman of the Jan. 6 panel investigating the Capitol riot. 

“She is a smug fool, and the great State of Wyoming, together with the Republican Party, fully understands her act. To look at her is to despise her,” Trump continued. “Hopefully she will continue down this unsustainable path and she will soon be gone!”

The Hill has reached out to Cheney’s office for comment.

Cheney and Trump have repeatedly feuded, as the lawmaker is one of a handful of House Republicans who have repeatedly stood up to the ex-president. 

Cheney has blamed Trump for the Jan. 6 riot and criticized other Republicans, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), for their loyalty and obsequiousness to Trump. 

It has cost Cheney, who is facing a primary battle for her House seat and who was removed from GOP leadership in the House.

The House will vote Thursday on the Bannon contempt charge. Bannon has refused to answer questions from the Jan. 6 panel, which on Tuesday unanimously voted to hold Bannon in contempt and refer him to the Department of Justice for criminal charges for repeatedly refusing to provide the panel with documents and appear for a deposition.

The House Rules Committee advanced the resolution to the full chamber on Wednesday ahead of a planned vote for Thursday.

Cheney, vice chairwoman of the Jan. 6 panel, urged her GOP colleagues to hold Bannon in contempt during Wednesday’s meeting.

“I urge you to do what you know is right, to think of the long arc of history. We are told that it bends towards justice. But it does so only because of the actions of men and women in positions of public trust,” Cheney said.