Cheney on direction of GOP: 'Dangerous'

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Aubree Eliza Weaver
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Just days after being ousted as House Republicans' third-ranked leader, Rep. Liz Cheney is still voicing her concerns about the state of the GOP.

Cheney told ABC in an interview that aired Sunday that her party's decision to replace her with New York Rep. Elise Stefanik — a staunch supporter and ally of former President Donald Trump — is "dangerous."

"I think it's dangerous," the Wyoming Republican said in an interview on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos." "I think that, that we have to recognize how quickly things can unravel. We have to recognize what it means for the nation to have a former president who has not conceded and who continues to suggest that our electoral system cannot function, cannot do the will of the people."

Cheney, who was stripped of her position as the party's House conference chair, went on to say that continuing to support individuals who question the 2020 election results and the democratic process could lead to more incidents like the Jan. 6 attacks.

"I think there's no question" that something like Jan. 6 could happen again, Cheney said.

"I mean, you know, we've now seen the consequences. We've — we've seen how far the president — President Trump was willing to go. We've seen not only his, his provocation of the attack, but his refusal to send help when it was needed, his refusal to immediately say, ‘Stop.’ And that in and of itself, in my view, was a very clear violation of his oath and of his duty."

Cheney was stripped of her position because of her willingness to publicly reject Trump's theories about a rigged election. In the ABC interview, she said that she agreed with Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, another maverick in the Republican caucus, that few members of the House GOP really believe Trump's baseless conspiracy theories.

Cheney also said that Trump's conspiracy-mongering bolsters enemies of democracy overseas.

"To cause that kind of questioning about our process, frankly, it's the same kinds of things that the Chinese Communist Party says about democracy: that it's a failed system, that America is a failed nation. I won't be part of that," she said.

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