McCarthy backs Stefanik as No. 3
House GOP leader endorses Cheney challenger, Trump ally
WASHINGTON — Top House Republican Kevin McCarthy on Sunday publicly endorsed Rep. Elise Stefanik for the post of No. 3 leader, ce- menting party support for the Donald Trump loyalist over Rep. Liz Cheney, an outspoken critic of the former president for promoting claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
House Republicans could vote as early as Wednesday to remove Cheney, the highest-ranking woman in the Republican leadership and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, and replace her with Stefanik, whose ascension has received Trump’s backing.
Asked on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” whether he supported Stefanik, R-N.Y., for the job of Republican Conference chair, McCarthy responded: “Yes, I do.”
“Everyone in leadership serves at the pleasure of the conference,” said McCarthy, R-Calif. “We want to be united in moving forward, and I think that is what will take place,” he said in response to a question about whether he had the votes to oust Cheney, R-Wyo.
McCarthy rattled off a list of priorities around which the GOP had to “be united,” such as immigration and the southern border, tax policy and jobs and inflation numbers in the recovering economy.
“We need a conference chair that is delivering that message day in and day out and uniting the nation,” he said.
McCarthy avoided mentioning Cheney by name Sunday.
“Any member can take whatever position they believe in. … What we’re talking about is a position in leadership. … As conference chair, you have one of the most critical jobs as a messenger going forward,” McCarthy said when asked whether Cheney was clinging too fiercely to a “never Trump” position.
Cheney has taken on Republicans, including McCarthy, saying those who indulge Trump’s claims of a stolen presidential election are “spreading THE BIG LIE, turning their back on the rule of law, and poisoning our democratic system.” In an opinion essay published Wednesday in The Washington Post, she denounced the “dangerous and anti-democratic Trump cult of personality,” and warned fellow Republicans against embracing or ignoring his statements “for fundraising and political purposes.”
She also said McCarthy had “changed his story” after initially saying Trump “bears responsibility” for the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. McCarthy initially criticized Trump’s actions, and in a private call during the insurrection had urged the then-president to call off the rioters. The GOP leader now says he does not believe Trump provoked the riot.
McCarthy on Sunday denied that Republicans’ effort to remove Cheney was based on her views of Trump or being one of 10 House Republicans to vote to impeach Trump over the riot. He said she was distracting from Republicans’ bid to win back the House in 2022 and successfully oppose President Joe Biden’s agenda, goals that McCarthy believes will need Trump’s support.
McCarthy complained last week that he had “lost confidence” in Cheney and “had it with her” over her continuing remarks about Trump, according to a leaked recording of his exchange on “Fox and Friends.” The former president has also repeatedly criticized her.
Cheney has a more conservative voting record in the House than Stefanik, a onetime Trump critic who evolved into an ardent ally. Stefanik previously opposed Trump’s tax cuts.
“You have this real battle right now in the party, this idea of let’s just put our differences aside and be unified,” said Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., who also voted to impeach Trump.
“They’re going to get rid of Liz Cheney because they’d much rather pretend that the conspiracy is either real or not confront it than to actually confront it and maybe have to take the temporary licks to save this party and in the long term this country,” he said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
The second-ranking House Republican leader, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, already has announced his support for Stefanik.