Liz Cheney has become the latest lightning rod for the Republican Party’s chronic infighting, which as usual is dressed up as disagreements over issues and approaches, but is actually almost entirely about the personality and character of Donald J. Trump. Cheney has made herself a symbol of inter-Republican resistance to Trump’s post-election temper tantrum, to his fables about a stolen election, and to his role in provoking the Capitol riot — all of which is fair to call out, but all of which is now in the past. That is at the root of why she is likely to be deposed as House Republican Conference chairwoman and, realistically, is nearly the entire reason for it.
It would be better for the party to focus more on the interests of the nation and the party’s voters, and less on soothing the bruised ego of one man. But so long as the House Republican caucus is unwilling or unable to break with Trump, and so long as Trump and his most-devoted supporters demand that they not change their mind and not change the subject, the caucus’s leadership may as well reflect that.
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