WASHINGTON — Rep. Matt Gaetz, a rising star in the Republican Party and close ally to President Trump, publicly accused Rep. Liz Cheney of undermining the president and called on her to resign or be removed from her position in GOP House leadership.
“Liz Cheney has worked behind the scenes (and now in public) against @realDonaldTrump and his agenda,” the Florida congressman tweeted on Tuesday.
“House Republicans deserve better as our Conference Chair. Liz Cheney should step down or be removed #MAGA,” he continued, referencing the president’s Make America Great Again slogan.
Cheney is the daughter of former veep Dick Cheney and serves as chair of the Republican House Conference, the third-most senior GOP role in the House.
The pair reportedly came to blows during a conference meeting earlier Tuesday where several Republican lawmakers confronted Cheney for backing Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie’s primary opponent, according to tweets from Politico reporter Melanie Zanona.
Lawmakers like Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, another passionate ally of Trump and a member of the unruly Freedom Caucus faction, accused the Wyoming congresswoman of repeatedly breaking with the president, Zanona wrote.
Some legislators were also unhappy with Cheney’s defense of Dr. Anthony Fauci.
The confrontation seems to be the boiling point for tensions that had been festering for weeks after Cheney tweeted a picture of her famous father wearing a mask last month along with the hashtag #realmenwearmasks.