Liz Cheney is a rare political figure. She is extremely conservative on policy issues, voting in alignment with Trump’s policies over 90% of the time during his presidency. However, unlike the wimpy, silent, opportunistic Republican members of Congress, she had a moral awakening when Trump incited the insurrection, watched it happen on TV and did nothing to stop it. In “Oath And Honor”, Cheney blames her Republican colleagues for enabling Trump’s assault on our democracy. The House could have voted to impeach him for twice meeting the Constitution’s criteria for high crimes and misdemeanors. However, they voted not to impeach him, stayed silent, lied for him, and broke their oath of office.
Her book reveals extensive evidence that validates her assertions about Trump being a corrupt, dishonest, and dangerous to democracy. In her book, she refers to her colleagues as “enablers and collaborators,” who after the 2020 election were “willing to violate their oath to the Constitution out of political expediency and loyalty to Donald Trump.” Cheney, along with Rep. Adam Kinzinger and Senator Mitt Romney were the few in Congress that showed loyalty to the Constitution over party.
- Kevin McCarthy- He told Cheney that Trump knew he’d lost the election. “He knows it’s over,” McCarthy said, according to the book. “He needs to go through all the stages of grief.”McCarthy announced on Fox ” President Trump won the election” and knew that what he was saying was not true.”
- Jim Jordan- “House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan was “dismissive” of the legal process for challenging the election results and “didn’t seem to think the rules mattered.”“The only thing that matters is winning,” Jordan said, according to Cheney.
- Speaker Mike Johnson- ” Johnson pressured Republican members to support an amicus brief to throw out the election results from four states Trump had lost. We just need to do this one last thing for Trump.”
- Republican Congressman Mark Green of Tennessee- Cheney writes “As he moved down the line, signing his name to the papers asking to object to electoral vote results in states they were contesting, Green said sheepishly to no one in particular, ‘The things we do for the Orange Jesus.”
Cheney was gaining no support from other Republican members of Congress and she writes about her growing fear of violence as Election Day approached. When Joe Biden’s victory was announced, Cheney was concerned about whether Vice-president Mike Pence would have the courage to certify the vote that would confirm Joe Biden as the legitimate winner. Cheney cites facts that expose that Trump and his allies were planning to overturn the election to illegally keep Trump in power. Examples of disturbing revelations in her book are:
- On a Jan. 4th call, Cheney heard Ttump allies planning to convince VP Mike Pence to not certify the electoral college vote which elected Joe Biden.
- On Jan. 6th, Trump told the rioters at the Ellipse “we have to get rid of the Liz Cheneys of the world.”
- Cheney disclosed conversations with Senator Mitch McConnell where he admitted he was contemplating voting to convict Trump.
- The right-wing media, led by Fox and Tucker Carlson spread disinformation about the 2020 election results. This fake news caused millions of Republican Fox viewers to believe the “big lie” which incited a movement to discredit the rule of law and justify violence against the government.
- Cheney sadly asserts, “America can no longer count on a body of elected Republicans to protect the republic.’
- She concludes by pleading, “Every one of us – Republican, Democrat, Independent – must work and vote together to ensure that Donald Trump and those who have appeased, enabled, and collaborated with him are defeated.”
