Cheney: I’ll keep fighting Trump

WASHINGTON: Republicans cemented their support for ousted president Donald Trump as they stripped one of his most strident critics from her leadership role.

Former number three Republican Liz Cheney vowed to continue to fight Mr Trump’s ongoing claims of election fraud and to hold him “accountable” for the January 6 Capitol raid by his supporters.

“I will do everything I can to ensure that the former president never again gets anywhere near the Oval Office,” Ms Cheney said after the vote that removed her as House Republican Chair.

“We have seen the danger that he continues to provoke with his language. We have seen his lack of commitment and dedication to the Constitution.”

Ms Cheney (pictured), who voted in January to impeach Mr Trump, declared her ousting threatened the Republican party’s future. “We cannot let the former president drag us backward and make us complicit in his efforts to unravel our democracy,” Ms Cheney said.

“Down that path lies our destruction, and potentially the destruction of our country.”

The vote was clear retribution for Ms Cheney’s attacks on Mr Trump and highlighted his continuing power over the Republican establishment.

Her most likely replacement in Elise Stefanik is a prominent Trump-backer who vowed to unite the party.

“Despite the media’s endless attempts to divide us, our members are united in our laser focus on defeating the radical Socialist Democrat agenda of President Biden and Speaker Pelosi,” Ms Stefanik said as she launched her bid to become chair of the Republican conference. “Our members believe the stakes are far too high for us to be divided.”