Liz Cheney Doubles Down On Trump Criticism Amid Political Fallout ...

Support for Rep. Liz Cheney, seen here on April 20, is crumbling as Rep. Steve Scalise, the second-ranking House Republican, is publicly supporting her ouster from the GOP leadership.Rep. Liz Cheney, the No. 3 House Republican, is doubling down on her condemnation of former President Donald Trump over his efforts to undermine the 2020 election and his role in inciting the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot as pressure mounts among top Republicans to remove her from her leadership role.In an op-ed published Wednesday in The Washington Post, Cheney urged her party to "stand for genuinely conservative principles, and steer away from the dangerous and anti-democratic Trump cult of personality.""Trump is seeking to unravel critical elements of our constitutional structure that make democracy work — confidence in the result of elections and the rule of law. We are unified and focused on FIRING PELOSI & WINNING in 2022!Rep. Steve Scalise also publicly called for Stefanik to replace Cheney."House Republicans need to be solely focused on taking back the House in 2022 and fighting against Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi and President Biden's radical socialist agenda, and Elise Stefanik is strongly committed to doing that, which is why Whip Scalise has pledged to support her for Conference Chair," Scalise's communications director, Lauren Fine, said in a statement given to NPR.The House of Representatives is currently in recess, which means any official vote to remove Cheney from her leadership role, or elect Stefanik, would happen next week at the earliest.On Tuesday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told Fox & Friends he's had members share concerns with him over Cheney's ability to carry out GOP messaging and pushed back that the fallout against the Wyoming lawmaker stems from her vote to impeach Trump."I haven't heard members concerned about her vote on impeachment, it's more concerned about the job ability to do and what's our best step forward, that we can all work together instead of attacking one another," he said.But as Axios reported following the interview, McCarthy put it more bluntly in a moment captured on a hot mic."I've had it with her.