Former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney, a vocal critic of former President Donald Trump, said the Republican party is currently threatening democracy, and that the nation is undergoing a political shift.
She made her remarks during a speech at Drake University’s Knapp Center on Wednesday. The lecture, part of Drake’s Bucksbaum Lecture series, was moderated by Lee Ann Colacioppo, the executive editor of the Denver Post. Colacioppo is a Drake graduate and previously worked for the Des Moines Register.
Liz Cheney: Nation’s politics undergoing a ‘tectonic shift’
Cheney said the county’s politics are undergoing a “tectonic shift,” citing instances of members of the Republican party supporting Trump’s claims of the election having been stolen as key evidence.
“Certainly, what’s happening in the Republican party is dangerous,” Cheney said. “We now have one of our two major political parties that has abandoned the Constitution.”
Cheney, who advocates for the defeat of Trump in the polls in November, said she hopes one of the outcomes of the political shift will be a reevaluation of how Americans engage with politics.
“We all have a responsibility to encourage our public officials to engage in substantive debate (and) to be respectful,” Cheney said. “I hope we will walk back from … the edge of the abyss that we’re looking into that has become so divisive and partisan — and so toxic — in so many ways.”
The nation can’t survive a president who would ‘torch the Constitution’
Cheney said although Trump saw sweeping success across the nation in Republican primaries, he should not feel confident going into the general election.
“In a number of these primaries, what we saw was that in some instances, close to 30% of the Republicans said they won’t vote for Donald Trump,” Cheney said. “So although he won, that is not a basis on which someone should go into a general election feeling any comfort about being able to prevail in the general.”
Cheney said the future of America’s democracy hinges on Trump’s defeat in November.
“We know (Trump) tried once not to leave office, and he will have no incentive to guarantee a peaceful transfer of power and to leave office should he be elected again,” Cheney said. “As frustrated as I know people get sometimes with policy disagreements you might have — and I certainly have policy disagreements with the Biden administration — I know the nation can survive bad policy. We can’t survive a president who is willing to torch the Constitution.”
Cheney doubts Trump’s longevity in the Republican Party
Cheney said Trump is being supported by Republican officials who continue to excuse and enable his actions on Jan. 6, adding that their continued support of Trump creates a degree of legitimacy amongst voters.
“Republican elected officials excuse the behavior — enabled the behavior — and by doing that, it created a situation where voters thought, ‘Well, you know, it must not be that he’s that dangerous, because if he were, then you would have more people saying so,’” Cheney said.
Cheney said the continued support of Trump prevents the party from presenting candidates who are popular among constituents.
Biong M. Biong is a reporter at the Register. Reach him at [email protected]
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