Former Congresswoman Liz Cheney Sounds the Alarm

Former Congresswoman Liz Cheney faces the daunting task of sounding the alarm when people have grown accustomed to the constant ringing. Her efforts to raise awareness about Donald Trump's ongoing attempt to overturn the last election have been met with indifference. Despite his election denial, Trump has managed to secure his position as the GOP presidential favorite. Furthermore, the election denier has even become the Speaker of the House, and prominent Republicans are now embracing election conspiracies as a means to achieve political success.

Following her defeat in the 2022 Republican primary, Cheney has transitioned from the U.S. Capitol dome to the Thomas Jefferson-designed Rotunda at the University of Virginia. She now spends her time lecturing on politics and writing a new book titled "Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning." The book, published by Little, Brown, is set to be released on Tuesday.

During an interview, Cheney was asked if her perspective on politics has changed. She was questioned about the tendency to demonize the opposing side and whether this mindset leads supporters to view them as not just wrong, but evil.

"Yeah, absolutely," she replied. "if everything that a political adversary does is met with, you know, an attack that, 'Oh my God, this is, you know, the worst possible thing you can imagine, this is dire,' then when you face something that really is dire, like we are facing today with respect to Donald Trump and his efforts to unravel the republic, people become numb to the truth, because they feel, like, Well, we've heard that so many times before from politicians."

"You once used to say that nobody could challenge your conservative credentials. What if being a conservative today is defined by one thing: your support for Donald Trump?"

"Well, I know what conservative means," Cheney said. "And I think that the most conservative of all conservative values is fidelity to the Constitution. So, you know, there certainly are people today who are caught in this cult of personality. But that's the opposite of conservative."

"If a person is a member of Congress and they have sworn an oath to defend the Constitution, can they defend the Constitution and also endorse Donald Trump?" asked Dickerson.

"No. It's inconsistent."

"They're breaking with their oath by saying they would like him to be the next president?"

"In my view, fundamentally, there is a choice to be made," Cheney said. "You can't both be for Donald Trump and for the Constitution. You have to choose."

"It's a lot of people who are choosing Donald Trump."

"Yeah. It is."

In the aftermath of the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, Cheney was one of only ten House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump. Soon after, she joined the Democratically-lead committee to investigate the attack.

Cheney arrived in Washington in 2016, alongside Donald Trump. Although she didn't like him personally, she supported his stance on issues like abortion and gun control. She voted in alignment with him over 90 percent of the time. "Certainly, I think all of us in the Republican Party watched things unfold to some extent before 2020 and said, 'Well, that's, you know, just Donald Trump. You don't have to take it seriously.' I think what we saw that was different post-2020 election was the actual attempt to overturn the election and seize power."

In her book, Cheney also outlines the groundwork laid by Trump's allies leading up to January 6, including the actions of Louisiana Congressman Mike Johnson, who was elected Speaker of the House in October. "Mike and I were good friends," Cheney stated. "But what I learned was that he was operating in a way that was dangerous. It was dangerous because what Mike was doing was taking steps that he knew to be wrong, doing things that he knew to have no basis in fact or law, or the Constitution. Mike was willing time and again to ignore the rulings of the courts, to ignore what state and federal courts had done and said about the elections in these states, in order to attempt to do Donald Trump's bidding."

Dickerson asked, "So, he was asserting not only facts for which he had no evidence, but which the courts had already ruled had no merit?"

"Right, exactly."

We reached out to Speaker Mike Johnson for comment. His office responded by stating that Cheney's book "does not present an accurate portrayal of those events," and that he wishes her "the best."

Web extra: Liz Cheney on the danger of Republicans embracing Trump

In a surprising twist, Cheney reveals the behind-the-scenes collaboration between herself and Johnson leading up to January 6. Although she initially didn't expect her readers to be familiar with Johnson, she believes his actions represent a larger issue within the Republican Party - the tendency to not only support, but amplify Trump's deceptive tactics. Little did she know, she was unknowingly writing about a future Speaker.

Dickerson questions Cheney, asking if the Speaker of the House is aiding in the overthrow of the previous election. Cheney responds with a resounding "Absolutely."

Dickerson then asks about the possibility of Mike Johnson becoming the Speaker on January 6, 2025. Cheney dismisses the idea, stating, "He can't be." She explains that the 2024 election poses an existential crisis, and it is crucial to prevent a situation where a Republican majority oversees an election that could potentially be thrown into the House of Representatives.

When asked if she would prefer a Democratic majority, Cheney expresses her strong belief in the principles and ideals that have defined the Republican Party. However, she criticizes the current Republican Party for prioritizing loyalty to Trump over the Constitution. Cheney sees this as a significant threat if the Republicans maintain the majority in January 2025.

Cheney hopes to convey the gravity of the situation and break through the political apathy that has permeated the country.

Dickerson probes further, asking Cheney to elaborate on her statement that if Donald Trump is re-elected, it would mark the end of the Republic.

"He's told us what he will do," Cheney replied. "People who say, 'Well, if he's elected, it's not that dangerous, because we have all of these checks and balances,' don't fully understand the extent to which the Republicans in Congress today have been co-opted. One of the things that we see happening today is sort of a sleepwalking into dictatorship in the United States." 

"Is Donald Trump a fascist?"

"I think that he certainly is employing fascist techniques," Cheney said. "I think that the tools that he is using, are tools that we've seen used by authoritarians, fascists, tyrants around the world. The things that he has said and done, in some ways, are so outrageous that we have become numb to them. What I believe is the cause of our time is that we not become numb, that we understand the warning signs, that we understand the danger, and that we ignore partisan politics to stop him."

      
For more info:

• "Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning" by Liz Cheney (Little, Brown & Co.), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available December 5 via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org
• Liz Cheney, UVA Center for Politics, University of Virginia

• Thanks to The Rotunda at the University of Virginia

      
See also:

• Trump eyes radical immigration shift if elected in 2024, promising mass deportations and ideological screenings

• Trump and allies plot revenge, Justice Department control in a second term (Washington Post)
• Conservatives aim to restructure U.S. government and replace it with Trump's vision (Associated Press)
• Romney says Trump portion of GOP "inclined to a populist demagogue message"

• Mitt Romney on today's Republican Party

  ("Sunday Morning")

      
Story produced by Ed Forgotson. Editor: Carol Ross.