WASHINGTON – Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., Faced a group of critics of the GOP Freedom Caucus on Tuesday who complained of their public support for Dr. Anthony Fauci and their support for Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie’s main opponent .
Cheney defended Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, during a closed-door meeting of the Republican Party, according to a source familiar with his comments.
On May 12, Cheney tweeted, “Dr. Fauci is one of the best public servants we have ever had. He is not a supporter. His only interest is to save lives. We need his experience and judgment to defeat this virus. All Americans should thank you. Every day. “
The White House has clashed in recent weeks with Fauci, whom President Donald Trump recently referred to as “alarmist” for his continued warnings about the coronavirus pandemic. Last week, Fauci called attempts to discredit him as “strangers.”
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, asked Cheney Tuesday to resign or be “removed” as president of the Republican House Conference. As president, Cheney is the only female member of the House of Representatives leadership.
Gaetz’s tweet quickly received the support of other prominent Republicans, including Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky and the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who compared Cheney to Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, the only Republican senator to vote. to condemn Trump during his impeachment.
Tuesday’s meeting was the first meeting of the Republican Party conference in person in months; members had been treating them virtually due to coronavirus concerns.
At the meeting, Cheney told Massie that his problem was with Trump, not her. Massie easily defeated a main challenger, Todd McMurtry, in June, even after Trump said he wanted Massie to be expelled from the Republican Party. Trump had called Massie a “great third-class standard bearer.”
Cheney had donated to McMurtry, but then requested that the money be returned after McMurtry had previously posted the racist social media posts.
Cheney also told Gaetz on Tuesday that he hopes to see an upcoming HBO documentary, “The Swamp,” about him, Massie, and a third Republican congressman, Ken Buck of Colorado.
In public after the meeting, Cheney said nothing about the confrontation. When asked about the group reporters’ exchanges on Capitol Hill, she said: “We had an exchange of views, I think it is very clear that we are all united in the sense of recognizing the danger the country would face if Joe Biden was elected president; We talked at length about Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi and the kind of America we would be living in if they prevailed. “
“Thomas Massie and I are in a good place,” he added.
