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Rep. Liz Cheney was honored on Sunday night at this year’s John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Awards
Republican Rep. Liz Cheney warned that Donald Trump is a threat to the United States the likes of which ‘we have never faced before’ in a Sunday evening speech.
Wyoming’s lone House Representative was among the recipients for this year’s John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Awards.
Her acceptance speech drew parallels between the Civil War and last year’s US Capitol attack in the pivotal tests they presented for the country’s democratic institutions.
Cheney discussed the historic importance of a peaceful transfer of power – which she said ‘has been honored by every American president, except one’ – and recalled Kennedy’s inaugural pledge to ‘defend freedom’ in its hour of need.
‘In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger,’ Cheney said.
Taking aim at her arch-rival Trump, she continued: ‘Today, that role is ours, as we face a threat we have never faced before – a former president attempting to unravel our constitutional republic.’
‘At this moment, we must all summon the courage to stand against that.’
She then directed her remarks at her GOP colleagues, the vast majority of whom have disavowed the conservative Republican over her persistent criticism of Trump.
‘The question for every one of us is: in this time of testing, will we do our duty? Will we defend our Constitution, will we stand for truth, will we put duty to our oath above partisan politics, or will we look away from danger, ignore the threats, embrace the lies and enable a liar?’ Cheney asked.
Cheney is the highest-ranking and one of only two Republican lawmakers on the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
She’s garnered praise from Democrats, Independents and even some Republicans for standing up to Donald Trump
She urged her audience on Sunday night to walk away with the message that ‘some things have to matter.’
‘The defense of our Republic, the defense of the Constitutional foundations of our nation, have to matter,’ Cheney implored.
‘In a republic, there are no bystanders, there are no spectators. And citizens, every one of us, has a duty to set aside partisan battles and stand together to perpetuate and preserve our great Republic.’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was also a recipient of the JFK Profile in Courage award on Sunday night.
Other recipients were Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Arizona House Speaker Russell ‘Rusty’ Bowers, and Wandrea’ ArShaye Moss, an Election Department employee in Fulton County, Georgia.
The lawmaker, whose father is former Vice President Dick Cheney, is fighting her toughest battle yet to stay in the office her father once held before her.
In addition to breaking from her party on Trump, Cheney further distanced herself from Republicans last week when she accused GOP elected leaders of enabling ‘white nationalism, white supremacy, and antisemitism’ following the Buffalo supermarket shooting that killed 10 people.
Cheney is also on the Democrat-led Capitol riot committee that’s set to begin public hearings in June
Cheney’s work on the Democrat-led January 6 committee, and leading it as Vice Chair, guaranteed her place high on Trump’s enemies list. She’s also one of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach the ex-president over the insurrection.
He’s actively worked to unseat her by backing Cheney’s former ally, attorney Harriet Hageman, for her at-large Wyoming seat.
Cheney’s own House colleagues like Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy followed suit in supporting the legislator’s rival.
Hageman previously had an unsuccessful run for governor of the Cowboy state. She lost the Republican primary of the 2018 election cycle.
But this year’s Wyoming Republican primary on August 16 will test the strength of a Trump endorsement up against an established veteran incumbent like Cheney.
The ex-president is giving Hageman an additional boost by appearing at an America First rally on her behalf in Casper, Wyoming over Memorial Day weekend.
He’s blasted Cheney as a ‘Republican In Name Only’ on numerous occasions.
Aside from being engaged in a fight for her political life, Cheney’s summer will be jam packed with the House Capitol riot committee’s upcoming public hearings.
The panel is set to present its findings to the country in a series of eight public hearings beginning in June, when the House returns from a brief recess.
