What does it mean to love your country more? More than your party, more than your politics, more than one man. These are the questions Hillari Lombard explores on this week’s episode of Moderate Party. Along the way, she recaps the removal of Liz Cheney from Republican Leadership and the implications this could have on the party moving forward, finds someone more spineless than Mitch McConnell, and discusses the role Moderates must play in the fight for the Republican Party.
Liz Cheney and the future of the republican party
Hillari Lombard: hello, and welcome to moderate party, a political podcast for moderate centrists and independence. I’m your host, Hillary Lombard. And today I am fired up. We’re going to be talking about Liz Cheney, Kevin McCarthy. How’s Republican’s decision to remove Liz Cheney from leadership. The future of the Republican party and my old favorite democracy.
This is a fight the moderates can’t stay on the sidelines for, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover. So, let’s get started.
[00:00:35]on November 12th, house Republicans removed Liz Cheney from Republican leadership and they did it through the most cowardly means possible. Not only did they have the meeting behind closed doors, but they also voted to remove her using something called a voice vote, which means that. They will leave no paper trail. How shady is that? Right? No recorded vote counts, no recorded speeches, nothing. The house minority leader couldn’t risk the public finding out because then certain members might be tempted to vote their conscience. Instead he opted for a voice vote. For him, the benefit of a voice vote is that it crushes any dissenting voices. All in the name of party, unity, of course. When you’re proud of your actions, you don’t need to hide them from the American people. Only shame lives in shadows.
[00:01:25] Now, if you aren’t familiar with House Republican leadership or Liz Cheney, for that matter, I don’t blame you unless you live in Wyoming or live in Washington DC there really isn’t a reason to spend a lot of your time getting to know a house member from another state or how congressional leadership works. At least there wasn’t before January 6th.
[00:01:45] Here’s what you need to know about Liz Cheney.
[00:01:49] Liz Cheney is not a moderate. She never has been. She never will be. She’s a conservative, both fiscally and socially. She is pro-life she’s pro gun. She’s aggressive on national security. She voted in alignment with Trump 94% of the time, and she has a lifetime rating of 80% from heritage action for America. It’s okay. If you don’t know who they are. I honestly just learned in researching this episode, but it basically means that she’s Republican as fuck. Like it is hard to get to the right of Liz Cheney on any issue.
[00:02:24] In 2016, Liz was elected to the house of representatives to fill the seat that was once held by her father, Dick Cheney. You may know him from the star Wars franchise, where he played the character of Darth Vader. I’m obviously kidding, but that is what John Stewart nicknamed him. And it was a nickname that he was proud to accept. Dick Cheney was arguably the most powerful vice-president in American history. Not only that, but he’s also an incredibly influential voice within the Republican party. He served as a member of the House, the Republican conference chair, the Republican whip secretary of defense and eventually, as I said, the vice president, he’s a pretty big deal. Whether you like the guy or not, most people don’t.
[00:03:02]But let’s get back to Liz. She Rose to power immediately. And after only one term was elected to serve as conference chair, making her the third ranking member in house, Republican leadership. At that time House Republicans liked how tough she was and they liked that she wasn’t afraid to throw some hands, get into a scrap with Democrats. Throughout her time in Congress Liz Cheney has been pretty consistent, whether you like her or not, there’s no denying that she has been a fierce advocate for conservative values. She’s been a faithful servant to the people of Wyoming. And she’s been a strong voice within the Republican party. If you’re listening to that rundown and thinking, why are we talking about her on a podcast for moderate? She sounds super conservative. I understand your confusion. You see, um, normally. I wouldn’t dedicate an entire episode of the show to the demise of an ultra conservative hyper-partisan member of the house. In fact, in most other circumstances, I would be cheering this change in leadership because the woman that they want to replace Cheney is actually a moderate, but I’ll get back to her later because this situation is different.
[00:04:13] If you’ve been listening since the beginning, you remember the episode I did about the insurrection and if you’re new, I’ll summarize. I believe fundamentally that moderates are the natural enemy of extremists. I also believe that in any battle of ideas, whoever cares the most is going to win. And so long as moderate sit, this one out extremists are gonna continue to win. They care more about their beliefs by nature of being extremists. Then moderate do, and that needs to change. Moderates need to get in the game. Our country needs us.
[00:04:50] Darkness rises and the light to meet it.
[00:04:56] You get it. I also believe that extremism and polarization are some of the biggest threats to our national security. Extremism creates polarization. And the combination of the two is ripping our country apart. It’s what led to the insurrection. It’s what has corrupted the truth and degraded it to be equal to a lie. And it’s not just on the right. The left is pretty bad to anybody that’s spent a day on Twitter can tell you that it’s on both sides, not always equally, but it is present. I guess in a weird way, extremism is bipartisan, which really, really sucks because the thing with extremism is that it really only ever goes one way. History isn’t full of stories about groups of extremists that were so dedicated to being extremely kind, right? There is no situation in which extremism took hold of a society and it went great. try and think of one. I’ll tell you the examples that come to mind for me,
[00:06:00] the Klu Klux Klan -famous for being racist, dog shit.
[00:06:04] The Nazis -killed an estimated 17 million people and just, you know, notoriously not great guys, chairman Mao, he killed 45 million people. Which, uh, earns him the title of the greatest mass murderer in history. Especially if you consider that he killed all of those people in four years, which is insane. Say what you will about the guy, but he was efficient. I’m kidding. That’s terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible. , honestly, that’s more, more dead people in such a short amount of time than I think that I can even fathom that’s extremism. Extremism only goes one way and that’s down. A recent example of extremism is the insurrection on January 6th, thousands of Trump supporters stormed the us Capitol in an attempt to overturn the election results and hang Mike Pence. But I shouldn’t make claims like that without giving the insurrectionists the opportunity to correct the record.
[00:06:59] Right. Insurrectionists, what did you want to do?
[00:07:08] okay. I just want it to be fair. See, they literally wanted to hang Mike Pence, the vice president of the United States. That’s what extremism sounds like in America. It’s not that far away. Don’t distance yourself from it, or think that it doesn’t exist. The insurrectionists actually made a makeshift Gallow outside of the Capitol. And once they stormed the Capitol, they made it within 50 feet of the vice-president. Can you imagine what would have happened if they got ahold of him? let’s not even talk about what could have happened. Let’s talk about what did happen. Insurrectionists made it to the floor of the Senate. 140 police officers were injured in several people, died. Extremism is not a good look, guys, moderates. We can’t keep sitting in this fight out, which weirdly brings me to Liz Cheney
[00:07:58]in a weird turn of events. She has become a champion for this cause. In the days following the insurrection, Liz Cheney was the only member of Republican leadership in the house or the Senate with enough courage to vote yes on impeachment.
[00:08:14] Chaney represents Wyoming. Wyoming is a very Trumpy state.Cheney had everything to lose and nothing to gain, but she voted to impeach out of a sense of duty and a sense of patriotism. Here’s what she said.
[00:08:29] Quote, “the president of the United States. assembled this mob and let the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing none of this would’ve happened without the president. The president could have immediately and forcefully intervene to stop the violence. He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a president of the United States of his office and his oath to the constitution endquote.
[00:08:56] Okay. If that vote was the only thing that she did, I would probably still commend her for showing true political courage, something that you really don’t see that often these days, but I probably wouldn’t do a whole episode on her. But let’s Cheney, didn’t stop there. In the months following the insurrection, Trump refused to give up his lie that the election was stolen. He just can’t let it go. He would rather burn down democracy than accept defeat. And the scary thing is that it’s working. According to a Reuters poll released in April six and 10 Republicans believe the false claim that the election was stolen from president Trump due to widespread voter fraud.
[00:09:35] Not only that, but about half of Republicans believed the insurrection was a nonviolent protest, or if it wasn’t a nonviolent protest, it was definitely the handiwork of left-wing activists trying to make Trump bad,
[00:09:51]the lies and misinformation that Trump and his allies are pedaling. It’s damaging and it’s corrosive to democracy to the country to, I mean, even to the Republican party, like you name it, but it’s working. Not with the majority of Americans. Thank God. But within the Republican party, it’s working in recent weeks, Trump has been getting more aggressive with these claims and last week he released a statement saying, quote, the fraudulent presidential election of 2020 will be from this day forward known as the big lie and quote, immediately following this Chaney tweeted an indirect response. She said the 20, 20 presidential election was not stolen. Anyone who claims that it was, is spreading the big lie, turning their back on the rule of law and poisoning our democratic system.
[00:10:42] Now that tweet is not extraordinary, right? I mean, it’s pretty straight forward, but in today’s GOP, you can’t speak out against president Trump, especially not if you’re in leadership and while many other Republicans have gotten in line behind the former president, Liz Cheney has remained steadfast in her defense of the truth.
[00:11:01] She refused to bow. And Trump can’t stand it. See, Trump is a bully. I don’t think anyone, even as supporters obviously would deny that fact. Trump is also a narcissist. He demands absolute loyalty, even though he shows none. So when Chaney voted to impeach him, he didn’t forget. So when she posted that tweet, he couldn’t let it go unanswered for him. The stakes are too high. Let’s Cheney is a powerful politician with a powerful name. Not only that, but she’s in a position of leadership within the Republican party, meaning how’s Republican support her enough to give her power. When she broke with the party broke with Donald Trump, she showed other Republicans that you don’t have to be afraid of him by standing in direct opposition to him. She offered people a glimpse of a Republican party without Trump. A party that doesn’t need him. Her very existence weakens him and he can’t allow it. He can’t allow her to stay in a leadership position. She can’t go on punish. She had to make an example out of her because that’s what bullies do. So he took to his weird little blog and he issued another statement calling for Chinese removal in a statement.
[00:12:22] Trump called Cheney a warmongering fool. And offered a full throated endorsement of a lease to phonic, to replace Cheney as conference chair, immediately following his statement. Kevin McCarthy, the leader of Republicans in the house, trash Chaney at a hot mic, claiming that he had had it with her soon after Steve scalies, the second ranking Republican in the house endorsed a phonic as well.
[00:12:46] One by one, the party that Liz Cheney and her father had served throughout their entire career, turned their back on her. It didn’t matter that she was one of the most conservative members of the house. It doesn’t matter how she votes. It doesn’t matter how high her profile is. In 2021 Republicans in Congress have made it clear: the only thing that matters is whether or not you show absolute unwavering loyalty to a demagogue, a demagogue that no longer holds elected office by the way. But for them, the King had spoken. Trump won and Chaney gone. He made it known and he ordered it like a hit and Kevin McCarthy made it happen. He sent a message to everyone in Washington. The Republican party eats its own.
[00:13:33] Now I want to stop here for just a second and talk about Kevin McCarthy or as Donald Trump calls him. My Kevin, Kevin McCarthy is the leader of the Republican party in the house, making him roughly Mitch McConnell’s equivalent. Kevin McCarthy is also a coward and a threat to American democracy.
[00:13:51] There are a lot of things to dislike about Kevin McCarthy, for example, he gave Trump a jar of only his favorite Starbursts picking out the other flavors like Mariah Carey’s intern and, you know, allegedly he cheats on his wife. Anyway, there were a lot of things to dislike about Kevin McCarthy.
[00:14:09] But the reason that I disliked him the most might actually surprise you. Kevin McCarthy has stood by and allowed the Republican party to radicalize and crumble. I firmly believe that our country’s better because we have two parties. I wish that we had more. Um, but I’d rather have two than one dominant party. Conflicting viewpoints are essential to our democracy I want the republican party to be strong and healthy for exactly that reason. I obviously don’t feel that way when they are eroding trust in our elections, making it harder to vote, adding trillions to the deficit, to benefit the wealthy pedaling and misinformation and attacking democracy. But if they weren’t doing those things, I would root for a strong Republican party and a strong democratic party. And hopefully a couple more parties in between. I know that might upset some of my more partisan listeners, but I don’t owe my loyalty to any party. I owe it to my country. And I think that strong, healthy parties are good for that country, but you don’t get strong parties without strong leaders.
[00:15:11] And the most important thing that any leader can do is lead, which appears to be the only thing that Kevin McCarthy is unwilling to do. When the 2020 election results came in, Trump immediately started crying, foul, and many Republicans in the house supported him in that claim. Kevin McCarthy couldn’t exactly decide where he stood on the issue, which makes sense.
[00:15:35] When you consider the, his beliefs changed with the wind, he believes in whatever, a more powerful dominant person wants them to believe. This became evident when more than 120 Republican members of the U S house formally asked the Supreme court to prevent four swing States from casting their electoral votes for Joe Biden, which is crazy by the way.
[00:15:59] When they released the letter that had all of the signatures of the supporting Republicans on it, there was something a little bit unusual. Kevin McCarthy’s name, wasn’t originally on the list of supporters. And when reporters asked him about this, he gave a pretty wishy washy answer, but it’s okay.
[00:16:18] Another reporter asked him later in the day. So we had an opportunity to clarify his position, except that he didn’t, he provided yet another wishy-washy answer. It seemed like he wasn’t fully ready to commit to stealing an election. So he was just kind of feeling it out except the next day, his name miraculously did appear on the list.
[00:16:38] His explanation, clerical error, if that were true, he could have told the reporters that asked him about it, that he didn’t know why his name wasn’t on the list because he definitely signed it. And maybe it was a clerical error, but he didn’t. He just didn’t have the courage to sign the letter until he knew that everybody else had already done it.
[00:16:57] So now it was safe too, which is sad. Really. He didn’t have the courage to sign the letter and he didn’t have the courage to stop the letter under McCarthy’s leadership members of his caucus tried to invalidate the votes of tens of millions of Americans. And he didn’t have the power to stop it. Even if he did have the will or the courage.
[00:17:21] Now, one of the things that I resent most about Kevin McCarthy is that he’s actually forced me to look at Mitch McConnell, who, as you know, is my OJI enemy in a more favorable light. I know it’s terrible. I didn’t know that there was a more spineless person in Congress, but I was wrong. See, Mitch McConnell came out and issued a strong statement to the American people, letting them know that the election was over, Joe Biden had won and that the Senate would not help the house overturn the election. Say what you will about Mitch McConnell and trust me, I do, but he’s a very effective leader. Not for America. No, no, no. But for the Republican party, if someone had tried to get a lawsuit like that out of the Senate, Mitch McConnell would have suffocated them in the night before he would let it get out.
[00:18:07] Just look at the stats. 60% of house Republicans signed on to overturn the election 60%. In the Senate at most, it was 15% Mitch McConnell don’t play after the insurrection. Kevin McCarthy could have broken with Donald Trump and secured more Republican votes for impeachment or even center, which he originally suggested, but he didn’t, he chose not to hold the president responsible in any way and worse than that, he’s not even a true believer.
[00:18:39] He came out immediately after the insurrection and took to the house floor to say this and bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress, by mob rioters, he should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding. These facts require immediate action, but president Trump. And the president’s immediate action also deserves congressional action, which is why I think a fact finding commission and essential resolution would be prudent and that’s great.
[00:19:10] But then several days later he said this quote, I don’t believe he provoked it. If you listened to what he said at the rally and quote, several days after that, he actually snuck down tomorrow Lago to apologize to Donald Trump and kiss the ring. Which is just honestly more embarrassing than I can address on this show, but, uh, why would he do that?
[00:19:36] Well, it’s simple because he can’t win the house in 2022, without Trump. You don’t see Nancy Pelosi doing that shit. Kevin McCarthy can’t hold his party together. And as a result, it is spinning out of control. It’s like a boat at sea with no rudder. He couldn’t even risk removing Liz Cheney publicly. He had to use a voice vote to force it through because he can’t project unity any other way.
[00:20:02] Kevin McCarthy’s leadership, along with Donald Trump’s presidency, let the party of Reagan degrade itself into a party without a platform they’re forced to relive the past because they have no vision for the future. The Republican party under Kevin McCarthy stands for nothing. They aren’t even ideologically consistent on their defining policy issue of 2020 cancel culture.
[00:20:25] Considering the fact that McCarthy let the party cancel Liz Cheney for having an opinion different than there’s the optimism and honesty of Ronald Reagan has been forsaken and replaced with grievance, nationalism, and fear. To add insult to injury. McCarthy sent a letter out to other house members after Liz Cheney was ousted.
[00:20:44] And in it, he said the following quote, unfortunately, each day we spend litigating the past is one day less. We have to seize the future end quote, which is ironic since he worships Donald Trump, a man who based his entire campaign on returning to the past and is still to this day, fighting his opponents from the 2016 and 2020 election.
[00:21:06] McCarthy went on to say, quote, we’re a big tent party. We represent Americans of all backgrounds and continue to grow our movement by the day. And unlike the left, we embrace free thought and debate and quote, Oh my God, I could, I could honestly scream. They embrace free thought and debate. They embrace those things so much that they remove Liz Cheney from her leadership role for having a different opinion.
[00:21:33] And they did it in secret literally to avoid debate, but don’t worry, y’all it gets worse after voting to remove Liz Cheney from leadership, for refusing to lie and say the election was stolen. Kevin McCarthy had the nerve to tell reporters though, but I don’t think anybody is questioning the legitimacy of the presidential election.
[00:21:53] I think that is all over with. Fight me coward. Oh my God.
[00:22:01]. It’s actually disorienting to watch somebody try to Gaslight and entire country in real time. But that is what he does. He lies Kevin McCarthy will say anything to please and protect Trump because it helps him hold onto power. Look, no further than Congressman Matt Gates. He is currently under federal investigation for sex trafficking and paying for sex with a minor.
[00:22:25] Yet he still holds all of his committee assignments and has received no punishment, no censure, no nothing. Dang. While Liz Cheney who has done, none of those things was removed from leadership. Why? Because Matt Gates is one of the loudest. Advocates for president Trump in the house of represents that says a lot.
[00:22:50] This is the legacy of Kevin McCarthy. In 2022, Republicans are favored to take back the house, which would make Kevin McCarthy speaker of the house. And second in line for the presidency. He does not deserve to be speaker of the house and he doesn’t deserve to lead the Republican party. If you’re a Republican.
[00:23:11] And do you or someone, you know, lives in Bakersfield, California, and is looking to primary. Kevin McCarthy, please email the show@talkatmoderatepartypodcast.com. I want to get you on here. I wanna hear from you
[00:23:27] a lot of pundents and blue check marks on Twitter have been dismissing the decision to remove Liz Cheney as typical insider politics stuff that voters don’t actually care about. And normally. I would be inclined to agree, but in this particular situation, I think that the decision to remove her from leadership is actually indicative of something much darker liz Cheney, wasn’t like some intern on Capitol Hill. She was in leadership and she was protected to some degree by the legacy of her last name. At least within the Republican party, she had power. And that power was taken from her because she told the truth. If Liz Cheney can be removed from leadership, imagine what the consequences of defying Trump would be for a no name, freshmen, congressmen, someone without a big platform and an even bigger name.
[00:24:21] What happens to them if they defy Trump, this Liz Cheney episode proves that anyone. That defies him will face retaliation and likely a well-funded primary challenger to, you know, remove them from office. They’re scared.
[00:24:37]and I’m a firm believer that sometimes you have to put on your big kid pants and do things that scare you, but their fear isn’t completely unfounded Republicans that haven’t endorsed Trump. Aren’t seeing a lot of success. Michael would the Congressman Adam Kinzinger endorsed was only able to get 3% of the vote in a Texas special election granted it was a special election, which typically has lower turnout than a standard than normal election. And he was running against the incumbents widow, but still. 3%. It’s pretty dismal. But even if we dismiss that, the fear is real enough because if it wasn’t, we wouldn’t have members of Congress embracing a lie and swearing allegiance, not to their country or an ideology, not to a principal or even a party, but to one man they are tying their personal success, their future, their ambition, all of that to one man. And that terrifies me. Many news outlets have said that Liz Cheney’s only crime was telling the truth, but I don’t think that that’s entirely accurate. Liz Cheney did tell the truth. But I don’t think it was her only crime.
[00:25:59] I think her other crime, according to the Republican party was being the only one, brave enough to do it. They removed Liz Cheney because of her courage. The scariest thing to a coward is courage by showing courage. She reveals their cowardice. She stands in opposition to their lie and tells the American people that there might be something wrong with this picture.
[00:26:20] Sure. That’s why they’re so concerned about party unity. Think about it like this, if you’re going to commit a murder or no, no, I’m sorry. Let’s say that you did commit a murder and you and six friends come up with an alibi. He say you were all together. If no one cracks, then your alibi is solid. But if even one person breaks and says that the alibi has made up, if that one person tells the truth, everybody’s alibi falls apart, politics is no different.
[00:26:55] If you read any articles or listened to members of Congress, it sounds like Liz Cheney is down and out. Beaten, done Dan Pfeiffer, uh, the host of a popular progressive podcast called pod save America said that this was so bad for her, that she probably wouldn’t even run for reelection. If that’s true, somebody better tell Liz Cheney because she doesn’t seem to believe that one bit.
[00:27:23] The Trump political team is actively looking to coalesce around a primary challenger to you. What is your message to them? You know, uh, bring it on. Yeah, she does. Doesn’t exactly. Sound terrified. Dan, I personally think that anyone counting Liz Cheney out is doing so at their own peril. I don’t like to make political predictions, but I think that Liz Cheney is about to go full Obi wan Kenobi.
[00:27:47] And for my less nerdy listeners, I’m referring to you strike me down. I should have a couple more powerful. Trump has never taken a punch from the right. Not really Mitt Romney is a mild-mannered Bruce banner type. And while he showed real political courage in his impeachment boats, and the time that he’s spoken out, since he isn’t an aggressive opponent, just by nature of his temperament, I think that if he had a choice, he would rather be left alone to work on policy. And that’s great. That’s honestly, that’s more of what I want in a member of Congress, but. I think that with, with Mitt Romney, he spoke out because as conscience wouldn’t allow him to stand back quietly, not because he’s comfortable in a confrontation. I respect that. And I think that he is a hero and a Patriot for doing so, but Liz Cheney is something else entirely.
[00:28:42] And while she’s also a Patriot, Liz Cheney is a bare knuckle boxer. She’s a political animal. She is Darth Vader’s daughter or more accurately his apprentice. She knows how to fight. It’s actually what got her elevated to this leadership role in the first place. Don’t let her Polish well-spoken soccer, mom, exterior, fool.
[00:29:06] You let’s Cheney knows how to throw hands and she’s not afraid to do so. We’ve never seen Trump face an opponent like that. Someone unafraid, unapologetic, undeterred, and aggressive. She sees him for what he is, a demagogue, a narcissist, and a threat. We face a threat. America has never seen before a former president who provoked a violent attack on this capital in an effort to steal the election has resumed his aggressive effort to convince Americans that the election was stolen from him.
[00:29:41] He risks inciting further violence. Cheney has been a foreign policy Hawk, her entire career. She knows how to spot a tyrant. And she believes that it’s America’s job to stand up to them, which appears to be what she’s doing now. And honestly, it’s not just America that she’s standing up for. It’s Republicans, Republican voters, that there are, um, Republicans across the country.
[00:30:07] Who’ve been misled. Uh, and I think that for us as elected officials, our responsibility is to tell the truth. Our responsibility is to help people see the election was not stolen to help people see that the big lie that the former president is telling is a lie and it’s destructive. I think that that point is really important.
[00:30:28] Those people were misled. Americans believe their president because why wouldn’t you. Even jaded anti-establishment people at their core against their better judgment. Assume the president can’t just lie to you. I mean, Malcolm Gladwell proved it. We default to truth. So, I mean, maybe you believe that a politician can mislead you or distract you, but with the exception of Watergate, we haven’t really ever had a president that would outright lie to you.
[00:31:01] Especially about something as important as this something so essential, the peaceful transfer of power. Most of us, if you were born here have lived here most of your life. We can’t even really imagine such a thing because all of us have grown up in the warm embrace of democracy. We have the privilege of being naive when it comes to this kind of thing, it makes sense that they believe him. I mean, so long as you accept that Trump supporters trust him, our country is so polarized that many Americans only trust people from their own party.
[00:31:37] And, you know, actually let’s push that a little further. I’m sure some Republicans know that Trump is a liar, but when they hear Trump say that he, that the election was stolen. And then they hear from the majority of their party that it was stolen. Who are they going to believe? Democrats, the media that they’ve been trained to hate, come on,
[00:32:00] you’re listening and you lean left. I encourage you to think beyond your own partisanship and flip this around. If Trump won reelection and Joe Biden, someone that you trust said the election was stolen. And then the majority of Democrats in Congress backed him up. And the only people that were saying that the election wasn’t stolen were Republicans and Trump himself.
[00:32:29] And whenever you told anybody that you weren’t sure that the election was, you know, free and fair, all they did was send you fact check articles published by Fox news or OAN Newsmax or Breitbart. Would you believe it? No. Would those fact check articles from Fox news and Breitbart convince you? No. Now I believe that journalists from reputable publications do great work.
[00:32:58] I don’t have the chip on my shoulder for the mainstream media that some of you do. I think that the Washington post and the New York times have factual reporting from journalists with integrity. I think that. They are sometimes guilty of bias, but that doesn’t necessarily make what they’re saying.
[00:33:15] Inaccurate just slanted. You may agree with me. You may not, but it doesn’t really matter because the people that believe Trump’s lie, don’t trust Democrats and they don’t trust the media. It doesn’t matter if you agree. They trust Fox news and Breitbart and members of the Republican party. It’s true.
[00:33:36] Whether we like it or not. They aren’t going to change their mind, no matter how many well-intended Washington post articles, you send them NPR, get out of here. They’re not going to listen, but you know who they might listen to. I am a conservative Republican, and the most conservative of conservative principles is reverence for the rule of law.
[00:34:02] The electoral college has voted. More than 60 state and federal courts, including multiple judges. The former president appointed have rejected his claims, the Trump department of justice investigated the former president’s claims of widespread fraud and found no evidence to support them. The election is over.
[00:34:24] That is the rule of law. That is our constitutional process. Those who refuse to accept the rulings of our courts are at war with the constitution. That’s right guys, Liz Cheney. That’s her name? I believe there’s a possibility that she could actually be the messenger that democracy needs right now, someone credible, credible to the Americans that are being deceived by the former president.
[00:34:55] Somebody that stands for the same things that they do. Someone who understands them. Somebody who genuinely fought for them. They can’t dismiss her. They can’t say she doesn’t get it, or that she’s a lib or that she believes the fake news. She consumes the same media diet that they do. She believes what they believe.
[00:35:18]Now, do you understand why she’s such a threat?
[00:35:20]Trump has made it clear that his top priority. Is to find a Republican to run against Liz Cheney. It’s not enough for him to tear her down from her leadership role. He wants to remove her from Congress, make sure that there are no dissenting voices. He wants to show everyone else that if you speak out against him, not only will you be retaliated against, but you can be removed.
[00:35:42] You know what Liz Cheney thinks about that, you know, uh, bring it on and you run for reelection. Absolutely. Do you think you can win? Absolutely. Trump got more votes in Wyoming last time around than you did just a few, but he did have a higher percentage. And in the intervening months, he has provoked an angry mob to attack the Capitol, to try to steal an election.
[00:36:03] And he has continued to make claims that that are fundamentally dangerous to the democracy. And, uh, I, as I said, if, if they think that they’re going to come into Wyoming and make the argument that the people of Wyoming should vote for someone. Who is loyal to Donald Trump over somebody who’s loyal to the constitution.
[00:36:20]I will have that debate and discussion every day of the week. . I pray to God, the people of Wyoming don’t prove her wrong.
[00:36:28] Liz Cheney believes that we will defend our constitution, that when we’re given the information from someone that we trust. We will do the right thing, make the right choice project, the candidate, swearing allegiance to former president Trump and back the woman that backs the flag. She trusts that the people of Wyoming will vote for the hometown girl that stood up to one of the most powerful men in the world in defense of her country, because that’s what her state taught her to do. She’s tough, just like Wyoming. she believes that we will defend our country and the rule of law. She believes in the miracle of America in the people of this country. And it’s up to us, you and me and everyone between us to prove that she isn’t a fool for placing her faith in us.
[00:37:20] This Chinese, not a moderate, but I fear that in this. Political moment. We might not have the luxury of fighting about policy priorities or legislative approach, or even how we’re going to pay for it. If the Republican party turns their back on the truth and the rule of law and goes all in on Trump, violence will follow the country that we love could be ripped apart.
[00:37:47] And every dictator, every autocrat, every bully would know that democracy fell. That they were right. All along that America and the freedom that it embodies couldn’t hold. I don’t agree with Liz Cheney on much of anything, but we do agree on one thing. She has shown that democracy is the Hill that she is willing to die on. And this we are the same. And so the enemy of my enemy becomes my friend.
[00:38:17] I received a message last week from a gold star father. Who said standing up for the truth, honors, all who gave all, we must all strive to be worthy of the sacrifice of those who have died for our freedom. They are the Patriots Katharine Lee Bates described in the words of America.
[00:38:38] The beautiful, when she wrote, Oh, beautiful four heroes proved in liberating strife, who more than self their country loved and mercy. More than life. Ultimately, Mr. Speaker, this is at the heart of what our oath requires that we love our country more, that we love her so much, that we will stand above politics to defend her, that we will do everything in our power to protect our constitution and our freedom that has been paid for by the blood of so many.
[00:39:15] We must love America so much. That we will never yield in her defense. That is our duty.
[00:39:25] I want to close this episode with a question, a critical question that every American, especially my friends and listeners on the right need to ask themselves. Can you love your country more? More than your party, more than any policy, more than any one person, more than red, more than blue, more than this present moment or that job you lost.
[00:39:53] Can you love it more than hate or disappointment more than the Supreme court justices you don’t like and the president that you didn’t vote for? Can you love your country more than your fear? Because that’s what it’s going to take.
[00:40:13] I’m Hillari Lombard and this is moderate party.
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How does the Party of Lincoln become the Party of Trump? In Part Two of our series examining the
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