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McCarthy Backs Stefanik 05/10 07:13
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Top House Republican Kevin McCarthy publicly endorsed
Rep. Elise Stefanik for the post of No. 3 leader, cementing party support of
the Donald Trump loyalist over Rep. Liz Cheney, an outspoken critic of the
former president for promoting discredited claims that the 2020 election was
stolen.
House Republicans could vote as early as Wednesday to remove Cheney, the
highest-ranking woman in the Republican leadership and daughter of former Vice
President Dick Cheney, and replace her with Stefanik, whose ascension has
received Trump's backing.
Asked in an interview on Fox News Channel's "Sunday Morning Futures" whether
he supported Stefanik, R-N.Y., for the job of Republican Conference chair,
McCarthy responded: "Yes, I do."
"We want to be united in moving forward, and I think that is what will take
place," he said in response to a question about whether he had the votes to
oust Cheney, R-Wyo.
McCarthy said the leadership post must focus on a message "day in and day
out" on what he said were the problems of the Biden administration.
Cheney has taken on Republicans, including McCarthy, R-Calif., saying those
who indulge Trump's false claims of a stolen presidential election are
"spreading THE BIG LIE, turning their back on the rule of law, and poisoning
our democratic system." In an opinion essay Wednesday in The Washington Post,
she denounced the "dangerous and anti-democratic Trump cult of personality,"
and warned her fellow Republicans against embracing or ignoring his statements
"for fundraising and political purposes."
She also said McCarthy had "changed his story" after initially saying Trump
"bears responsibility" for the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. McCarthy initially
criticized Trump's actions, and in a private call during the insurrection, had
urged the then-president to call off the rioters. The GOP leader now says he
does not believe Trump provoked the riot.
McCarthy on Sunday denied that Republicans' effort to remove Cheney was
based on her views of Trump or being one of 10 House Republicans to vote to
impeach Trump over the Jan. 6 riot. He said she was distracting from
Republicans' bid to win back the House in 2022 and successfully oppose
President Joe Biden's agenda, goals that McCarthy believes will need Trump's
support.
McCarthy complained last week that he had "lost confidence" in Cheney and
"had it with her" over her continuing remarks about Trump, according to a
leaked recording of his exchange on "Fox and Friends."
Cheney actually has a more conservative voting record in the House than
Stefanik, a onetime Trump critic who evolved into an ardent ally. She
previously opposed Trump's tax cuts.
"You have this real battle right now in the party, this idea of let's just
put our differences aside and be unified," said Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill.,
who also voted to impeach Trump. "They're going to get rid of Liz Cheney
because they'd much rather pretend that the conspiracy is either real or not
confront it than to actually confront it and maybe have to take the temporary
licks to save this party and, in the long term, this country," he said on CBS'
"Face the Nation."
The second-ranking House Republican leader, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana,
already has announced his support for Stefanik.
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