Former Representative Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican, on Sunday spoke about the recent trend of GOP lawmakers receiving threatening messages that urged them to support Representative Jim Jordan for the House speakership, putting the blame on Donald Trump and some of his supporters.
On October 3, Representative Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, became the first House speaker in U.S. history to be ousted from the role by a floor vote, after a motion to vacate was brought against him by GOP Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida. Since then, successive GOP candidates for speaker have failed to garner the necessary majority of votes, an issue worsened by the party’s razor-thin margin of control in the House.
Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the House majority leader, was the first candidate chosen, but he ultimately failed to get the votes needed on the chamber floor and withdrew from consideration. Jordan of Ohio, the candidate initially endorsed by Trump, was next up, but he also failed to garner the needed votes, losing more and more support in three consecutive rounds of voting.
Amid the various attempts made by Jordan to obtain the speakership, reports began to emerge of Republicans who did not back the Ohio lawmaker receiving anonymous death threats over the matter. Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks, an Iowa Republican, called the threats she received after not voting for Jordan “credible.” Jordan himself has decried the threats made on his behalf as “abhorrent.”
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
“No American should accost another for their beliefs,” a post made to Jordan’s official X, formerly Twitter, account on Wednesday read. “We condemn all threats against our colleagues and it is imperative that we come together. Stop. It’s abhorrent.”
Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, previously served as the representative for Wyoming’s at-large district from 2017 to 2023. During the latter years of her tenure in office, she became one of the most outspoken GOP critics of Trump and his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results. She has remained a vocal critic of the modern GOP since leaving office.
During a Sunday appearance on CBS News’ Face the Nation, Cheney addressed the recent reports of death threats being made on Jordan’s behalf, laying the blame for them on Trump and his supporters since the former president endorsed the congressman for the speakership role.
“The domestic threats are absolutely being driven by Donald Trump and, unfortunately, some of his supporters who have encouraged and taken steps that have resulted in, as we saw on January 6, political violence,” Cheney said. “We have a member of Congress, reportedly, Warren Davidson from Ohio who in the meeting with Jim Jordan last week, when some of the holdouts raised with Jordan the fact that that they were getting death threats, one of them told me that in response, congressman Davidson said, ‘Well, that’s not Jim Jordan’s fault, that’s your fault for voting against him.'”
She continued: “That is the kind of encouragement and acceptance of violence that absolutely has no place in this party, should have no place in this country.”
Newsweek has reached out to Davidson’s office via email for comment.
In response to an inquiry from Newsweek, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung offered a brief response on Sunday to Cheney’s comments: “Liz Cheney is a loser, just like Ron DeSantis.”
During another Sunday media appearance, this time on CNN, Cheney told State of the Union host Jake Tapper that she is not ruling out a presidential run in the future.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.