Trump swipes at Cheney amid House GOP spat

Former President Trump tore into Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.) on Tuesday as the No. 3 House Republican emerges as a consistent thorn in his side while the House GOP meets for a retreat in Orlando., Fla.

In a statement released by his leadership PAC, Trump said Cheney is looking for a way out of running for reelection as Wyoming’s sole House representative and said she is looking to “save face,” even though there are no indications she is not planning to run for reelection next year.

“Liz Cheney is polling sooo low in Wyoming, and has sooo little support, even from the Wyoming Republican Party, that she is looking for a way out of her Congressional race,” Trump said. “She’ll either be yet another lobbyist or maybe embarrass her family by running for President, in order to save face. This warmongering fool wants to stay in the Middle East and Afghanistan for another 19 years, but doesn’t consider the big picture—Russia and China!” 

The statement comes as Republicans in Orlando feud over Trump’s role in the GOP moving forward, with Cheney advocating for as minimal a role as possible for the former president. 

That stance has put Cheney at odds with much of the House GOP, chiefly Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), who has advocated for Trump to have a broad role in the party. 

The two have clashed over a slew of issues, most recently when Cheney sided with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in saying a proposed independent 9/11-style commission should be focus solely on investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection. McCarthy has said he wants the committee’s scope to include some Black Lives Matter and antifa protests that turned violent at times. 

That comes on top of existing grumbling within the party over Cheney, who drew GOP criticism when she voted to impeach Trump earlier this year over his role in inciting the Jan. 6 riot.

McCarthy has taken veiled swipes of his own at Cheney this week, including when he wouldn’t say if she was a “good fit” for the GOP’s leadership team on Tuesday.

“That’s a question for the conference,” McCarthy told reporters.

“I think from a perspective if you’re sitting here at a retreat that’s focused on policy, focused on the future of making America’s next century, and you’re talking about something else, you’re not being productive,” he added when pressed for an answer.

Beyond the ongoing feud in Orlando, Cheney may have also drawn Trump’s ire this week when she said she was not ruling out a future run for president. She did not specify a cycle she could potentially run, but Trump has floated a possible comeback bid for himself in 2024.

“I’m not ruling anything in or out — never is a long time,” Cheney told the New York Post when asked if she would consider running in the future.