Former Congresswoman Liz Cheney called out fellow Republicans in a commencement speech Sunday, accusing them of urging her to tell lies following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Cheney, speaking to Colorado College graduates, said: “After the 2020 election and the January 6 bombing, my fellow Republicans wanted me to lie. They wanted me to say the 2020 election was stolen. , that the attack of January 6 was not it was not serious and that Donald Trump was not dangerous.
“I had to choose between lying and losing my position as House leader,” said the former Republican lawmaker, who graduated from Colorado College in 1988.
“A love and respect for freedom”
Cheney reflected on leading a prayer among her colleagues at the end of her role as House Republican Conference Speaker.
“As House Republicans bowed their heads in the auditorium under the Capitol, I prayed that we would know a love and respect for freedom. are gone forever,” she said.
Cheney served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, rising to the No. 3 GOP leadership position in the lower house of Congress. She voted to impeach former President Donald Trump following the Capitol riot and was a vocal chair for the former leader.
Cheers could be heard from the crowd during Cheney’s remarks, as well as boos.
Policy: Vice President Harris becomes the first woman to deliver a commencement address at West Point. It was founded over 200 years ago.
“They must be worried”: Debt ceiling deal faces pushback from left and right
Cheney was also vice chairman of the now disbanded House Select Committee investigating the attack on the Capitol. The committee in its final report claimed that Trump was the “central cause” behind the riot which sought to disrupt congressional certification of the 2020 presidential election.
In 2022, Cheney lost a primary election to Trump-backed Harriet Hageman, who now represents Wyoming’s single-house district.
Ahead of Trump’s first town hall with CNN earlier this month, Cheney aired an attack ad against the former president targeting his efforts to nullify the 2020 election.
Contributor: Ken Tran, USA TODAY; Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Liz Cheney calls out Donald Trump, Jan. 6 Republicans in speech