Cheney knocks Youngkin for campaigning with Trump-backed election deniers

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) called out Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) for hitting the campaign trail with Trump-backed election deniers in recent weeks.

During an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” moderator Chuck Todd mention to Cheney the comments Youngkin made at a rally in support of Arizona’s GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake earlier this week.

“You know, I think they are really indefensible decisions. And, you know, I’ve said I think that Glenn Youngkin has done a good job as governor of Virginia, but nobody should be out advocating for the election of people who will not honor the sanctity of our elections process,” Cheney told Todd. “And, you know, people who do that are in fact putting politics ahead of the constitution and ahead of the country.”

Lake has been among the most prominent pushers of Trump’s claims of fraud in the 2020 election, while also refusing to commit to accepting the results of her election against Democrat Katie Hobbs, Arizona’s secretary of state.

Youngkin, who defeated former Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) last year, has also made campaigned in Michigan with GOP gubernatorial candidates Tudor Dixon. 

Dixon has pushed the false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, though has recently backed off her direct support of Trump’s election denial.

Cheney’s remarks come days after the House select committee investigating the Jan 6., 2021 attack at the Capitol, formally issued a subpoena Trump.

Cheney has become a staunch critic of Trump and his allies in the Republican party, resulting in her being ousted from her leadership position with the House Republican Conference and losing her congressional primary race to Trump-backed candidate Harriet Hageman.

Cheney also ripped Trump and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) during her interview Sunday.

She said the Jan. 6 committee, on which she serves as vice chair, would not allow Trump to turn a committee hearing into a “circus” or “food fight.”

And she said McCarthy “is going to make himself the leader of the pro-Putin wing of my party,” when discussing his recent comments that Ukraine would not get a “blank check” from a GOP-controlled House.