Hogan calls RNC censure of Cheney, Kinzinger a ‘sad day’ for GOP

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) called the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) censure of Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) a “sad day” for his party.

“The GOP I believe in is the party of freedom and truth,” Hogan tweeted on Friday. “It’s a sad day for my party—and the country—when you’re punished just for expressing your beliefs, standing on principle, and refusing to tell blatant lies.”

Hogan, who is not seeking reelection as Maryland’s governor due to term limits and has previously been critical of former President Trump, is one of a group of moderate Republicans who openly questioned or outright slammed the RNC’s decision earlier on Friday to censure the two House Republicans.

The RNC voted to formally censure both of them for their previous criticism of Trump and their involvement in the House select committee investigating the events around the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Others previously connected to the RNC also blasted the move on Friday.

“As the former chairman of the Republican party, I cannot express enough my condemnation of this pathetic act of cowardice taken by its current leadership to censure ⁦@Liz_Cheney⁩ and ⁦@RepKinzinger⁩. You are wrong. I stand with Liz and Adam,” former RNC chairman Micheal Steele tweeted.

Mike DuHaime, a former political director for the RNC, said the committee would be “insane” if it censured both Republicans.

“The RNC is insane if it censures @RepKinzinger and @RepLizCheney. The party that long valued individuality and differences of opinion now demands fealty to the election results lie. And it stupidly keeps the focus Trump instead of Biden,” DuHaime said Friday morning before the vote.

Both Republicans defended themselves against the censure vote. 

“I’ve been a member of the Republican Party before Donald Trump entered the field,” Kinzinger said in a statement. “My values and core beliefs remain the same and have not wavered. I’m a conservative who believes in truth, freedom, and upholding the Constitution of the United States.” 

“I’m a constitutional conservative and I do not recognize those in my party who have abandoned the Constitution to embrace Donald Trump. History will be their judge. I will never stop fighting for our constitutional republic. No matter what,” Cheney wrote in her own statement.