Liz Cheney Slaps Down The News Media For Accusing Trump's ‘Squad’ Criticism To Be About Race
House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-WY) scolded the legacy news media on Sunday for attributing racial motives to President Donald Trump’s criticism of progressive lawmakers.
“I think the news media really wants to make this about race — you just did it. This isn’t about race. It’s not about gender. It’s not about religion,” Cheney told Margaret Brennan during an appearance on “Face The Nation.”
“These members of the House of Representatives … fundamentally believe in policies that are dangerous for this nation,” she continued. “As Republicans, we are going to fight against those even if the mainstream media accuses us of racism when we do that.”
NEW: @RepLizCheney says that the “send her back” chant at @RealDonaldTrump’s rally was “absolutely wrong” and “it should not have happened” but adds she hopes the media instead focuses “on what this wing of the Democrat party is advocating.”
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Trump ignited a firestorm after he targeted four progressive congresswomen, collectively known as the "Squad," for their socialist policy prescriptions and anti-America and anti-Israel rhetoric. The Squad, consisting of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), accused Trump’s attack of being racially motivated since they are all women of color. The media has generally amplified and reiterated those assertions.
“So Representative Omar blamed the United States for the terrorist attacks on our country, saying that terrorism is a reaction to our involvement in other people’s affairs,” Trump said during a rally on Wednesday in North Carolina. “She smeared the U.S. service members involved in ‘Black Hawk Down’ — in other words, she slandered the brave Americans who were trying to keep peace in Somalia.”
“Omar has a long history of launching vicious, anti-Semitic screeds,” Trump continued as the crowd erupted in a “send her back” chant. He later condemned the chant, saying that he “was not happy with it” and that he “felt badly about it.”
“You’ve heard him say that the chant was inappropriate, we’ve all said the chant was inappropriate,” Cheney responded when asked about the crowd’s reaction to the Minnesota congresswoman.
“It is absolutely wrong. It should not have happened, we’ve all said it shouldn’t have happened,” she continued. “I would really like to see the media as focused on the substance of what this wing of the Democratic Party is advocating because that is really dangerous for our country. Socialism is dangerous.”
After Brennan referenced Trump’s tweet earlier in the day stating that he doesn’t believe the members of the Squad love America and that “they should apologize to America (and Israel) for the horrible (hateful) things they have said,” the Wyoming congresswoman rebuked the implication that the president harbors any racial animosity towards the quartet.
“The president this morning, before we came on air, talked about the extent to which they love this nation,” Cheney responded. “If you go back and you look at many of the things they’ve said … talking about the nation is garbage, for example, — but I would again, reiterate this election and these issues that we’re talking about are fundamental to the future of this country.”
Cheney, the third-ranking House Republican, has been an outspoken critic ofsocialism and a staunch defender of Israel and the Jewish community. She has frequently butted heads with members of the Squad over their anti-Semitic and anti-American rhetoric.
“When you have members of Congress who are as anti-Semitic as Ilhan Omar has been, when you have members of Congress who are advocating the complete elimination of the use of all fossil fuels, all air travel, the elimination of private insurance, the imposition of socialism on this country — we’re not going to stand for that,” she continued.
"We’re not going to stand for policies that take freedom away from the American people," Cheney added. "That’s what this fight is about.”
