Cheney calls Trump 'a domestic threat' at Loeb School event

U.S. Rep Liz Cheney told a crowd at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics that former president Donald Trump continues to endanger the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law as he wrongly maintains the election was stolen from him.

Cheney, the Republican Congresswoman from Wyoming, called on Republican leaders to put truth above party politics.

In her keynote address at Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications First Amendment Awards hosted at St. Anselm College, Cheney called Trump “a domestic threat: a former president who's attempting to unravel the foundations of our constitutional republic, aided by political leaders, who have availed themselves as willing hostages to this dangerous and irrational man.”

Cheney, who serves as the vice chair of the House committee investigating the January 6th riot at the Capitol, chastised leaders of her party for allowing Trump to falsely claim that the November 2020 election was stolen.

The former president was recently a keynote speaker at a House Republicans’ fundraiser, where he repeated that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent and he called the violent mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 a legitimate protest, Cheney said.

“I know this nation needs a Republican Party that is based on truth,” Cheney said. “One that puts forward our ideals and our policies based on substance, one that is willing to reject the former president’s lies, one that is willing to tell the truth that millions of Americans have been tragically misled by former President Trump, who continues to this day to use language that he knows provoked violence on January 6.”

Cheney emphasized her commitment to conservative ideals like limited government, low taxes and family values, saying that she disagreed with President Joe Biden’s policies and actions in office.

But she said Republican leaders must prioritize protecting the U.S. Constitution and the democratic institutions above achieving political goals. “I love my party, I love it’s history, I love its principles. But I love my country more,” she said.

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“Will we put duty to our oath above partisan politics? Or when we look away from the danger, ignore the threat, embrace the lies, and enable the liar?” she asked. “There's no gray area.”

In her speech, Cheney also said that students need to learn more American history, including that the United States was right to drop atomic bombs on the Japanese at the end of World War II.

“Our children need to know that they are citizens of the most powerful, good and honorable nation the history of mankind, the exceptional nation,” she said. “Ordinary Americans have done heroic things to guarantee her survival.”

The event, which raises money for the nonprofit Loeb School, honored Webster couple Tara Gunnigle and Jon Pearson, who received the 2021 First Amendment Award for their relentless pursuit of public records that exposed an illegal land purchase by Webster’s former town treasurer.

“What a tremendous story for citizens and the students here, that at the end of the day, it’s individuals that make the difference,” Cheney said.

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