Status: 04.02.2022 21:12
The US Republicans have punished two prominent Trump critics within the party. With the reprimand, you withdraw the support of the two MPs – and send a clear signal.
The US Republicans have punished two prominent internal party critics of ex-President Donald Trump. The Conservative Party’s National Committee issued a formal reprimand against MPs Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger. Their behavior is “destructive to the US House of Representatives, the Republican Party and our republic”. According to reporters, out of 168 members present, only a handful of Republicans voted against the allegation.
The daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney and the Illinois MP became the harshest Trump critics in their own ranks after the Capitol stormed on January 6, 2021. Together with the Democrats, you voted for an – ultimately unsuccessful – impeachment process against Trump and are currently the only Republicans on the parliamentary investigative committee to investigate the attack on parliament. Parts of the Republicans have therefore even called for a party expulsion.
In its complaint, the committee accused Cheney and Kinzinger of helping Democrats prosecute US citizens who participated in “legitimate political discourse” on Jan. 6.
Republicans in Trump’s grip
After radical Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, large sections of the Republican Party turned their backs on the ousted president. However, the right-wing populist was able to regain power over the party in the weeks and months that followed. The 75-year-old, who is still extremely popular with the grassroots, is openly flirting with another presidential candidacy in 2024.
Meanwhile, Republicans are taking tough action against Trump critics in their own ranks. In view of the pressure, Kinzinger has already announced that he will not run for the House of Representatives again in the midterm elections next November. Cheney, in turn, has a Trump-backed challenger in her party’s congressional primaries.
Cheney shoots at the party leadership
Even before the vote, Cheney had called the party leadership “knowing Trump’s hostages” who supported a man who publicly admitted to wanting to undermine a democratic election. She does not recognize those in her party who have turned their backs on the constitution to support Trump instead.
Radical Trump supporters stormed the Capitol when the election victory of US Democrat Joe Biden in the November 2020 presidential election was to be certified there. The storming of the seat of Congress with five dead caused horror worldwide and is considered a black day in the history of US democracy.