Politics

Cheney book blasts GOP as Trump ‘enablers,’ warns of threat to democracy

By Jake Beardslee · November 28, 2023

In her forthcoming book “Oath and Honor,” former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) offers a scathing critique of former President Donald Trump and what she calls the Republican party’s “cowardice” in enabling his claims about the 2020 election. Cheney condemns her colleagues as “enablers and collaborators” willing to “violate their oath to the Constitution out of political expediency.”

The book, obtained exclusively by CNN ahead of its Dec. 5 release, chronicles Cheney’s realization in the aftermath of the election that Trump and his allies were attempting to overturn the 2020 election. Cheney writes, “As a nation, we can endure damaging policies for a four-year term. But we cannot survive a president willing to terminate our Constitution.”

Cheney delivers a critique of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, stating that he told her privately, “He knows it’s over. He needs to go through all the stages of grief.” Yet McCarthy later went on TV to falsely state, “President Trump won this election.”

The Wyoming Republican also criticizes the GOP for pressuring members to support Trump’s election lies, stating that current House Speaker Mike Johnson “appeared especially susceptible to flattery from Trump.” She quotes colleague Mark Green as stating sheepishly while signing an objection to the election results, “The things we do for the Orange Jesus.”

Cheney writes that she sees the GOP is “an anti-Constitution party” willing to do whatever Trump asks of them. “I am very sad to say that America can no longer count on a body of elected Republicans to protect our republic,” she states.

The book concludes with Cheney asserting defending democracy is more vital than partisan politics: “Every one of us – Republican, Democrat, Independent – must work and vote together to ensure that Donald Trump and those who have appeased, enabled, and collaborated with him are defeated. This is the cause of our time.”