McConnell’s strong words could put pressure on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who runs the fractious House GOP conference and will be influential in deciding how to handle Cheney and Greene. McCarthy has been more cautious in his dealings with both lawmakers.
McCarthy was expected to meet with Greene as early as Tuesday. House Republicans are expected to meet Wednesday, when hard-right GOP lawmakers could try forcing a vote to remove Cheney.
“Liz Cheney is a leader with deep convictions and the courage to act on them,” McConnell said in a statement obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press.
McConnell did not explicitly call for keeping Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, in her No. 3 job. But he called her “an important leader in our party and in our nation” and said he looked forward to continuing to work with her.
On Monday, McConnell released a statement that said, “Loony lies and conspiracy theories are cancer for the Republican Party and our country. Somebody who’s suggested that perhaps no airplane hit the Pentagon on 9/11, that horrifying school shootings were pre-staged, and that the Clintons crashed JFK Jr.’s airplane is not living in reality.”
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