By Christina Zhao
Senior news editor
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney has said she won't oppose the Republican push to tighten voting laws in battleground states and refused to link the effort to former President Donald Trump's election fraud claims.
Republicans in numerous states—including Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Texas and Arizona—have launched campaigns to enact new voting restrictions. Critics allege that party members are attempting to make participating in elections harder for Democratic voters.
In a Friday interview with Axios on HBO, airing Sunday night, Cheney said she won't fight GOP efforts on the state level to restrict voting, and reportedly disputed any connection between the new laws and Trump's election conspiracy theories.
Read More
Robert Gates Says GOP Lacks ‘Values, Principles’ and Ex-Leaders Wouldn’t Recognize Party Now3 min read
Liz Cheney Challenger Anthony Bouchard on Impregnating 14-Year-Old at 18: ‘Like Romeo & Juliet’3 min read
Liz Cheney Is Nearly Three Times as Popular Among Dems Than GOP Voters: Poll3 min read
"You don't see any linkage between Donald Trump saying the election's stolen and Republicans in all these state legislatures rushing to put in place these restrictive voter laws," asked journalist Jonathan Swan.
"I think you have to look at the specifics of each one of those efforts. If you look at the Georgia laws, for example, there's been a lot that's been said nationally about the Georgia voter laws that turned out not to be true," Cheney responded.
Swan pushed further, saying, "I don't think anyone doubts that the reason 400-some voting bills have been introduced, 90 percent by Republicans, supported by the Republican National Committee... I don't think it's a coincidence after the election that this has happened."
Cheney continued to deny the link, insisting that "everybody should want a situation and a system where people who ought to be able to vote and have the right to vote should vote and people who don't shouldn't."
Asked by Swan to specify what Republican hope to solve with the new restrictions, Cheney simply responded: "Each state is different... I think you gotta look at each individual state law."
"I will never understand the resistance, for example, to voter ID," she added. "There's a big difference between that and a president of the United States who loses an election after he tried to steal the election and refuses to concede."
House Republicans ousted Cheney from the No. 3 leadership position earlier this month after she repeatedly clashed with Trump and voted with Democrats for his second impeachment. In the aftermath of the 2020 election, a GOP rift has broken out between the Trump wing and an establishment wing impatient to end his influence on the party.
Many Americans anticipated that Cheney would become the hero of the resistance, but her remarks to Axios—her first extensive public statements given since her ousting—indicates that she'll continue to side with Republicans on most policy issues.
Newsweek reached out to Cheney for further comment. This story will be updated with any response.
...
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines