Former GOP Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming, pushed from office after she expressed consistent opposition to Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 election, continues sounding the rhetorical alarm. In a new interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow — someone known for essentially opposite politics, Cheney argued for what she saw as the needed, non-partisan coalition for blocking Trump.
Trump, while facing four criminal cases, remains active in his campaign for another four years. As president if he wins next November, he’s suggested he would issue pardons for participants in January 6, pursue a renewal of the Muslim-targeting travel bans from his first four years in office, seek criminal prosecution of political opponents of his, and more. Cheney has indicated she’s open to campaigning for Joe Biden’s bid for another term, something one could certainly imagine making some impact among perhaps on-the-fence, traditionally minded conservatives as opposed to the followers of what’s been termed the personality cult around Trump.
“I looked at my sons across the dinner table, and I had this realization,” Cheney told Maddow. “I grew up in a country where I didn’t have to wonder if we were going to have a peaceful transfer of power in the United States. All of a sudden it occurred to me, my God, maybe they won’t be able to say the same thing. And that is why it’s so fundamentally important that we ensure Democrats, independents, Republicans — that we work together, we vote together, we make clear that Donald Trump is not an acceptable alternative. He is not the lesser of two evils. He is a completely unfit man for office.”
Trump is currently enmeshed in attempts — which seem unlikely to succeed — to secure a dismissal in his criminal case alleging attempted election subversion following the 2020 race. Presiding Judge Tanya Chutkan recently rejected arguments from Trump of wide-ranging immunity for actions taken as president, finding that the legal record actually provided for potential charges against ex-officeholders. The ex-Congresswoman’s comments to Maddow can be seen below:
