Civil war erupts in House Republican conference as Freedom Caucus turns on Liz Cheney
Under President Donald Trump, the Republican Party — and American conservatism in general — has, by and large, abandoned the pretense that they stand for any principles or ideological framework beyond being the political manifestation of white men’s grievances and prejudices.
This much was made extremely clear on Tuesday morning when the mewling toddlers in the Freedom Caucus turned their ire on Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY).
Cheney is a bloodthirsty war hawk who regularly disparages the most basic of social safety net programs as “socialism” and is as staunchly “conservative” as anyone can be.
But since she crossed the line and defended medical expert Dr. Fauci and occasionally disagreed with the president, she was publicly lambasted by the nihilistic Trump-fanatics in the Freedom Caucus during this morning’s House GOP caucus.
POLITICO reporter Melania Zanona observed the fireworks:
Now Rep. Chip Roy is attacking Cheney for her support of Dr. Fauci, per source in the room.
He lamented that his liberal primary opponent retweeted Cheney’s tweet about Fauci.
— Melanie Zanona (@MZanona) July 21, 2020
It sounds like this conference meeting — the first in-person GOP meeting in months — is turning into a full blown Freedom Caucus venting session/pile on.
— Melanie Zanona (@MZanona) July 21, 2020
Cheney did not back down from confrontation:
She defended Fauci.
She told Gaetz I look forward to seeing ur HBO doc.
She told Massie his issue is w/ Trump, not her.
She told Jordan I look forward to hearing ur comments about being a team player when we’re back in the majority
— Melanie Zanona (@MZanona) July 21, 2020
Make no mistake. This should not be taken as evidence that somehow Liz Cheney is a “voice of reason” in a party full of extremists; she is just as radical and devoted to the dismantling of American democracy and starting needless foreign wars as all the rest of them are.
She proved this by leaving the meeting and immediately reiterating her opposition to the election of Joe Biden and keeping Donald Trump from having another four years to destroy this country as we know it.
Just spoke with Liz Cheney about this. She downplayed dispute and said it was a “healthy exchange of views” and it is clear “we are all unified in recognizing the danger the country would face if Joe Biden were elected president.” She claimed she and Massie are “in a good place” https://t.co/0yyl5woQoU
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) July 21, 2020
But it is very interesting to see how willing the selfish ingrates who make up the GOP are to eat each other alive at the slightest sign of disloyalty — a weakness prime for exploitation as the 2020 election approaches.