Rep. Dan Crenshaw came to fellow Republican Rep. Liz Cheney’s defense as she faces backlash from her decision to vote in favor of impeaching President Trump.
Cheney, the third-ranking Republican in the House in her role as GOP conference chairwoman, announced her support for impeachment on Tuesday, and by Wednesday, some of Trump’s closest allies on Capitol Hill began calling for her to step down from her leadership position.
“Let’s get some truth on the record: @Liz_Cheney has a hell of a lot more backbone than most, & is a principled leader with a fierce intellect,” Crenshaw said in a Wednesday tweet. “She will continue to be a much needed leader in the conference, with my full support. We can disagree without tearing eachother apart.”
Let’s get some truth on the record: @Liz_Cheney has a hell of a lot more backbone than most, & is a principled leader with a fierce intellect. She will continue to be a much needed leader in the conference, with my full support.
We can disagree without tearing eachother apart. https://t.co/yMLary1kLj
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX)
January 13, 2021
Crenshaw, a rising star in the GOP from Texas, voted against impeaching Trump but said in a statement that the president “bears enormous responsibility” for the violence on Capitol Hill that injured dozens and left several people, including a police officer, dead.
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Biggs, an Arizona Republican, told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday night that Cheney should resign from her role as Republican conference chairwoman. A petition is also reportedly circulating among the conference calling for the same.
Despite the pressure, Cheney has remained defiant and pushed back on those saying she should step aside.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Cheney told reporters on Capitol Hill. “This is a vote of conscience. It’s one where there are different views in our conference. But our nation is facing an unprecedented, since the Civil War, constitutional crisis. That’s what we need to be focused on.”
In a statement announcing her support for impeachment, the Wyoming Republican and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, said of Trump that “there has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”
In total, nine Republicans joined with Cheney in supporting Trump’s impeachment, which passed the House on Wednesday, a week after the siege, in a 232-197 vote. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has indicated that a trial will not be held until after President-elect Joe Biden is sworn into office next week.