Former Representative Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican, trolled Representative Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican and an ally to former President Donald Trump, on Saturday after she deleted a post she made about the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Cheney was a vocal critic of Trump in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. Following his lost to Joe Biden, Trump made repeated claims that the election was stolen from him via widespread voter fraud, with no evidence being found to back up his accusations. In the wake of Trump's claims, a violent mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., on January 6 in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying the election results.
After the riot, Cheney's criticisms of the former president grew. She was one of only 10 House Republicans to vote to impeach Trump for incitement of insurrection in the days following the Capitol riot. Trump was later acquitted by the Senate. Cheney ended up losing her seat as the House Republican Conference chair, the third-ranking position among GOP members in Congress, in May 2021, and then her position as representative for Wyoming's at-large district in the 2022 midterm election.
On Tuesday, Cheney posted a now-removed statement from Stefanik who took over Cheney's position as House Republican Conference chair after the riot.
On X, formerly Twitter, the former congresswoman wrote alongside the statement: "This is what @EliseStefanik said, in a rare moment of honesty, about the January 6 attack on our Capitol. One day she will have to explain how and why she morphed into a total crackpot. History, and our children, deserve to know."
Stefanik's statement from January 6, 2021, mirrored what several Republicans initially said in the wake of the attack, until they changed positions.
"I fully condemn the dangerous violence and destruction that occurred today at the United States Capitol," Stefanik wrote, who called the violence that day "absolutely unacceptable and anti-American."
In a follow-up post on Saturday, Cheney posted to X a screenshot of Stefanik's removed statement and wrote: "I'm told that, in response to my prior tweet, @EliseStefanik deleted her 1/6/21 statement — that those who stormed the Capitol 'must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.' Here is Elise's statement again. Feel free to share. #nomorecrackpots."
Alex DeGrasse, senior adviser to Stefanik, told Newsweek via email on Saturday: "On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Liz Cheney is spending her Saturday morning having a mental breakdown looking at archives of years old press releases. Liz is lashing out as usual because she hates that the American people sent her packing and she will never hold any elected office again."
He added: "Congresswoman Stefanik's official website for the 118th Congress includes all press releases and news for the current Congress. Press releases and media from the previous Congresses are available on multiple official social media channels."
Newsweek reached out to Cheney's faculty email for the University of Virginia's Center for Politics for comment.
Stefanik, who assumed office in 2015, used to be seen as a moderate, but has recently been making headlines for her conservative views and being a loyal supporter of Trump. Stefanik has even been floated as a possible vice presidential candidate if Trump, who is the GOP frontrunner in the 2024 presidential election, won the Republican nomination.
Appearing on NBC's Meet the Press earlier this month, Stefanik called the DOJ's probe into those involved in the riot "baseless witch hunt investigations" and called those already convicted and jailed for their actions surrounding the riot "hostages."
Earlier this month, on the third anniversary of January 6, the DOJ announced that over 1,265 defendants have been charged in connection to the riot and that 749 defendants have been sentenced.
Meanwhile, Stefanik's language on Meet the Press has been used by the former president. At a campaign rally in Houston, Texas, in November Trump said of the jailed rioters, "I call them the J6 hostages. Not prisoners." He also called the hearings of the House select committee that investigated the events surrounding January 6 a "witch hunt" during an event in Nashville, Tennessee in June 2022.
The January 6 committee, which Cheney and only one other Republican, then-Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, recommended that the DOJ bring criminal charges onto Trump for his actions surrounding the riot.
The former president was indicted in August 2023 on four federal felony counts: conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has claimed that the case is politically motivated.
Update 1/27/24, 1:53 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from DeGrasse.
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Rachel Dobkin is a Newsweek reporter based in New York. Her focus is reporting on politics. Rachel joined Newsweek in ... Read more
