I wrote today at Politico about the ambush of Liz Cheney at a House GOP meeting this week:
This episode is much more telling about Cheney’s internal GOP critics than Cheney.
She rightly refuses to play by the dumb rule insisted on by MAGA and Never-Trump Republicans from their respective parts of the spectrum, that the only two options are to submit to the president totally or to oppose him totally, with no honorable space in between.
Cheney is a Republican and a member of leadership, which imposes its obligations, but she hasn’t checked her mind or conscience at the door.
She has deeply held views on foreign policy and doesn’t hide them, even when they depart from those of the president.
She has also been a consistent voice for taking the pandemic seriously and wearing masks and has defended Anthony Fauci. Can anyone doubt that if Trump had taken her tack, he’d be in a stronger position today? That the president felt compelled to hold a Covid briefing again on Tuesday and strike a more sober tone implicitly concedes as much.
But some of Cheney’s colleagues are upset with her rather than the president.