As the GOP attempts to oust Rep. Cheney from her leadership position in the House, American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp joins MSNBC’s Ari Melber to discuss the state of the Republican party, the GOP’s relationship with Trump, and his support for Elise Stefanik to replace Cheney despite having a lower lifetime conservative rating from the ACU.
Matt Schlapp on Tuesday and asked him why
Liz Cheney is likely being replaced by a Republican the ACU itself says is far less conservative.
Cheney is set to be ousted from House GOP leadership, in a vote set for Wednesday, for her public statements calling out
Donald Trump’s big lie about the election. Stefanik has been publicly endorsed by Trump and
Kevin McCarthy for the position, but it’s been widely noted that Stefanik, despite being more publicly pro-Trump than Cheney, hasn’t had as conservative a voting record as Cheney.
The American Conservative Union, as of this posting, has Cheney at a 78.03 lifetime rating, compared to 43.64 for Stefanik.
Last modified on Wed 12 May 2021 11.43 EDT
Lafayette Square, outside the White House, reopened this week to strolling couples, tourists and scampering children. After nearly a year sealed off by eight-foot metal fencing, it was one more sign of life in America getting back to normal.
Then thereâs the danger. For more than three months itâs been tempting for many to assume that, with Joe Biden in the White House and Donald Trump off Twitter, democracy survived its near-death experience, recovered and checked out of hospital. But the ousting of Liz Cheney by the Republican party shows that the potential for a relapse is all too real.
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The political galfight between House GOP Representatives Elise Stefanik and Liz Cheney so often gets covered trivially, as if it’s about which woman is standing by the all-powerful man, disgraced former president Donald Trump.
But it’s bigger than that: It’s about whether Republicans have room in their leadership ranks for someone who is tethered to reality and ready to stand up for free and fair American elections, in which we vote fairly, count the votes accurately, certify them legally and the losers and winners alike acknowledge the results. Cheney, like her or not on other policy grounds, is that person, and whoever Stefanik used to be, she is not that person anymore.