Cheney Eviscerates Former House GOP Colleagues: They ‘Wanted Me To Lie’ About Trump, the 2020 Election, and Jan. 6th

Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), once the third-ranking member of the House GOP, excoriated her party and former House colleagues on Sunday while giving the commencement address to graduates at Colorado College on Sunday.

“After the 2020 election and the attack of January 6th, my fellow Republicans wanted me to lie. They wanted me to say the 2020 election was stolen, the attack of January 6th wasn’t a big deal, and Donald Trump wasn’t dangerous,” Cheney said in the speech.

The fierce critic of Trump, the current 2024 GOP frontrunner, went on to tell the graduates of her alma mater that “I had to choose between lying and losing my position in House leadership.”

Cheney went on to recall the day she was voted out of GOP House leadership, eventually to be replaced by pro-Trump Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) as chair of the House Republican Conference.

“As I spoke to my colleagues on my last morning as chair of the Republican conference, I told them that if they wanted a leader who would lie, they should choose someone else,” she said, adding:

No party, no nation, no people can defend and perpetuate a constitutional republic if they accept leaders who have gone to war with the rule of law, with the democratic process, with the peaceful transfer of power, with the Constitution itself.

Cheney ended her address by urging more women to run for office and for young voters to get to the polls. “Cleta Mitchell, an election denier and adviser to former President Trump, told a gathering of Republicans recently that it is crucially important to make sure that college students don’t vote,” Cheney said.

“Here is a fundamental fact. America cannot remain a free nation if we abandon the truth. So as you go out to change the world, resolve that you will stand in truth, those who are trying to unravel the foundations of our republic, who are threatening the rule of law and the sanctity of our elections, know they can’t succeed if you vote. So, class of 2023, get out and vote,” she concluded.

Some students in the audience protested Cheney’s presence by turning their chairs as she took the stage. Local media reported the student protest was over her past views and votes regarding LGBTQ issues.

Watch the clip above.

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