Scott Tibbs


In defense of Liz Cheney

By Scott Tibbs, August 31, 2022

Liz Cheney was elected to Congress the same year that Donald Trump was elected President. During that time, she voted with Trump 93% of the time. She is anti-abortion and pro-gun. You may not like how she has dealt with the January 6 investigation or her criticism of the former President, but Cheney is not a RINO. Conservatism as an ideology is not defined by support of or opposition to Trump, and the Republican Party should not be defined by that either.

Cheney did cast too wide of a net about January 6. Like Cheney, I do not believe the 2020 election was stolen, but Cheney has played into efforts by Democrats to hang the criminal behavior on that day to every Republican elected official and voter. Even votes in Congress are described as "insurrection," which is utterly absurd. Cheney, like many other "Never Trump" Republicans, has allowed her personal dislike of and her feud with Trump to color her view of everything related to him.

But a RINO? Come on. Here are some of Cheney's voter scorecards: That voting record does not a RINO make.

Where I differ with Cheney on policy is her support for interventionism, and I have said before that one of the refreshing things about Trump was that he was instinctively a non-interventionist. But it does not help the cause of Republicans to call her father a "war criminal," especially since the vast majority of Republicans (me included!) supported the invasion of Iraq in 2003. If Vice President Cheney is a "war criminal," then we are all collaborators.

But Liz Cheney's voting record and issue positions are solidly conservative. Not perfect, obviously (no one is) but solidly conservative. Her stand on abortion and guns - arguably the two most important issues to the Republican base - are consistently conservative. Even her interventionism, while currently not as popular as it was 20 years ago, has traditionally been a pretty standard policy stand for Republican elected officials, party operatives, voters and thought leaders.

I admire Cheney for having the courage of her convictions and for being willing to lose in order to stand by what she believes. She knew in January 2021 that voting to impeach Trump would end her Congressional career. She not only did that, she tripled down on it and was more than willing to lose on principle rather than compromise what she believes or silence her opposition to someone she believes is a dangerous and destructive man. This is rare in politics at any level, and this nation could use many more politicians who are willing to do that.


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