McCarthy aide reacts to Liz Cheney attack with ‘ironic’ Dick Cheney quote
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy’s office brushed off a disparaging comment from outgoing Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney on Wednesday, citing a quote from her father.
Cheney spoke about McCarthy’s leadership in the party early Wednesday, stating that he was not a wise choice to head the GOP moving forward. Harriet Hageman easily defeated Cheney in the GOP primary race to represent Wyoming’s at-large congressional district.
“We need leaders who have reverence for our Constitution, who are faithful to our Constitution and who are going to do what’s required to abide by our oath,” Cheney said on NBC’s “Today” show, “no matter whether or not it’s politically convenient. Kevin McCarthy certainly does not fit that bill.”
Asked for a response, an aide to McCarthy pointed Fox News to “comments made by Liz Cheney’s father, Dick Cheney, when he was campaigning in 1976.”
Dick Cheney said at the time: “Principle is OK up to a certain point, but principle doesn’t do any good if you lose.”
The McCarthy aide called it an “ironic quote from her dad.”
Cheney was the most senior of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump on a charge of inciting the deadly attack on the Capitol, which was waged by right-wing extremists and other Trump supporters who aimed to disrupt congressional certification of President Biden’s Electoral College victory in the 2020 election.
The conservative lawmaker and defense hawk immediately came under verbal attack from Trump and his allies, and in May of last year she was ousted from her number-three House GOP leadership position.
McCarthy said earlier this week that he believes he’ll be the next speaker of the House.
“I believe so. We’ll win the majority and I’ll be speaker. Yes,” McCarthy said in an exclusive interview with Fox News on Monday, as he pointed toward the likely regaining of the House majority by the GOP in November’s midterm elections.
