Liz Cheney says it needs to be made 'clear' the GOP isn't 'the party of white supremacy'

Rep. Liz Cheney.
(Image credit: Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty Images)

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) told her fellow Republicans on Tuesday that they must "ignore the temptation to look away" and make it "clear that we aren't the party of white supremacy."

Cheney, the No. 3 House Republican, made her plea during an event hosted by the Reagan Institute. When supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, "you certainly saw anti-Semitism," Cheney said. "You saw the symbols of Holocaust denial ... you saw a Confederate flag being carried through the rotunda. We, as Republicans in particular, have a duty and an obligation to stand against that, to stand against insurrection." She is one of the few House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump last month, on a charge of incitement of insurrection.

Earlier this month, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said a "9/11-type commission" will be created to investigate the Capitol attack, something Cheney supports. She wants investigators to take a "clear eyed look" at the baseless claims of voter fraud spread by Trump, his allies, and conservative news outlets, which Cheney said promoted these conspiracies and contributed "to a very dangerous set of circumstances."

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"The president and many around him pushed this idea that the election had been stolen," Cheney said. "And that is a dangerous claim. It wasn't true. There were over 60 court cases where judges, including judges appointed by President Trump and other Republican presidents, looked at the evidence in many cases and said there is not widespread fraud."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.