While Republican lawmakers condemned the failed siege on the United States Capitol this past January, few were willing to acknowledge the role former President Donald Trump played in inciting it.
For months—up until minutes before the riots—Trump insisted to his supporters that Democrats, through widespread election fraud, had "stolen" the 2020 presidential election victory from him.
Believing his lies, the pro-Trump extremists shattered windows, smeared excrement across the walls, and endangered the lives of every lawmaker present when they stormed the Capitol, upending the joint Congressional session to nationally acknowledge Biden's electoral college victory.
One of the few Republicans willing to rebuke Trump's lies was Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who voted to impeach Trump a historic second time for inciting an insurrection.
Cheney said in a statement at the time:
"The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the President. The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution."
That statement earned her the ire of the entire Republican party. Cheney was subsequently censured by her state's GOP. Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida went to Cheney's district to drum up opposition among her constituents. She faced calls for her removal from Republican congressional leadership.
Cheney's critics in the Republican party seized on another chance to malign her this week, when Cheney fist bumped President Joe Biden just before his address to a joint session of Congress.
Watch below.
The former President's son, Donald Trump Jr., skewered Cheney for the show of courtesy.
Calling Cheney a Democrat, Trump Jr. railed against the Congresswoman for giving the equivalent of a handshake to the President of the United States. It was yet another example of the unwavering loyalty demanded by the Trump family of those who support its patriarch—a loyalty that's deepened American divisions and accelerated the Republican party's move to the far-right.
Cheney, without naming Trump Jr., rebuked these criticisms on Twitter.
People praised Cheney's response.
Many found it sad her words even needed to be said.
Reactions from Trump's supporters further displayed the need for the statement.
Cheney is reportedly considering a presidential run in 2024.
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