CHEYENNE — Hundreds of residents gathered in front of the Wyoming State Capitol on Thursday to protest Congresswoman Liz Cheney’s recent vote to impeach former President Donald Trump, an event that culminated with a speech from one of her most outspoken critics, U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and a phone call from the ex-president’s son.
The event, which was organized partially by a Wyoming state lawmaker, came a couple weeks after Cheney joined nine other Republican representatives in voting to impeach Trump for his role in inciting the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. With many donning Trump hats and flags, the crowd of more than 400 began to gather around noon, with patriotic country music blaring near the front steps.
Gaetz, who has repeatedly called on Cheney to step down from her third-ranking role within the House Republican Conference, arrived about an hour later before the enthusiastic crowd, telling them that “our battle is no longer just Republican versus Democrat.”
“We deserve American greatness, not managed decline,” Gaetz said. “In that battle, it’s the establishment against the rest of us. They control big media, big corporations, big tech, big defense contractors, and they walk around Washington, D.C. with big checkbooks and even bigger egos.”
“But we’ve got something that is far more precious and far more powerful: We control the true spirit and identity of America,” he continued, followed by an eruption of “USA!” chants from the crowd.
Gaetz told the crowd that the power lies with them to defeat Cheney in the 2022 election, “and Wyoming will bring Washington to its knees.”
“We’re Americans, and if there’s a fight for the soul of this country, we intend to win it,” Gaetz said. “With less regulation, with lower taxes, America’s best days are still yet to come. Don’t you ever let some spoiled celebrity or athlete or socialist politician ever tell you otherwise.”
About halfway through his speech, Gaetz called in Donald Trump Jr., who told the crowd over a cellphone speaker that “it seems like Liz Cheney’s favorables there are only slightly worse than her father’s shooting skills.”
“In leadership, they’re supposed to do a couple of things. You’re supposed to raise money, you’re supposed to recruit new members, you’re supposed to lead,” Trump Jr. said. “I’ve been pretty involved for the last few years, and I haven’t seen Liz Cheney do any of those things, so it’s time to have a change.”
Trump Jr. said the state should find one candidate to run against Cheney, rather than have a bunch of campaigns against Cheney that result in “RINO losers” helping to reelect the congresswoman. He emphasized a choice did not need to be made immediately.
The crowd, which often booed whenever Cheney was mentioned, included many folks who had previously supported the congresswoman’s campaigns for office.
“If you were playing the Super Bowl, then half of your team decided to go the other way in the middle of the game, what would you think about your team? It let you down,” said Fred Tindell, a 72-year-old sporting a “Make America Great Again” face covering. “That’s about as traitor as you can ever get.”
Tindell came over Thursday morning from Laramie for the rally with his partner, Jenelle Gaddis, who had also previously voted for Cheney.
“I was very surprised when she voted to impeach,” Gaddis, 73, said. “It really kind of made me mad that without even reaching out to the Wyomingites and our feelings, she just voted that direction … I’ve personally left messages and sent emails (to her office) and haven’t received anything back.”
While the vast majority of those in the crowd were there in opposition to Cheney, a few people showed up to push back against the perspectives offered by Gaetz. Throughout the rally, a group of counterprotesters from the Laramie Human Rights Network stood about 20 yards away holding a sign that read, “Florida Fascist Go Home.”
Other attendees came from out of state for the event. Josie Hughes woke up at 5 a.m. Thursday to come from Vail, Colorado, to the rally. While not one of Cheney’s constituents, the congresswoman’s vote still spurred her to come see Gaetz, who she described as brave for making an appearance.
“How dare her impeach our president,” Hughes, 48, said of Cheney. “He didn’t incite any violence, and even if he did, that’s what the Democrats have been doing all summer.”
___
(c)2021 Wyoming Tribune-Eagle (Cheyenne, Wyo.)
Visit Wyoming Tribune-Eagle (Cheyenne, Wyo.) at www.wyomingnews.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
—-
This content is published through a licensing agreement with Acquire Media using its NewsEdge technology.
liz will get one vote in the primary, her own.
not after the communist party who now controls the election fraud swindle shows up with 1.6 million “mail in ballots” that are NOT folded in any manner as a reward for her marxist allegiance …. if they don’t change the voting system to just call in who you want and they’ll just mark it down…. then it will be 1.8 million.
WITH how the left controls all facets of voting, i am sure they’ll engineer MORE THAN one vote for her…
As far as Liz’s shooting skills go,,,she aimed at Trump and shot herself in the head. When she gets primary’d we will see if her self-inflicted wound is mortal. Dad advised her to aim at Trump, now his own oil and pipeline Wyoming concerns are getting shot to pieces as a result. This kind of leadership by double-crossing cross-eyed William Tells will not hit the apples the Austrian Democrats have placed upon your children’s head, but your Adam’s apples, starting with the Apple of your party’s eye.
Pity that’s only a figurative she “Shot herself in the head/foot”, and not LITERAL!
It’s time voters express their outrage with those they have elected and fail to represent the people who elected them. I hope more citizens express their feelings with both Senators and Representatives. Here in Pennsylvania Pat Toomey doesn’t have to care because he is not going to stand for reelection to the Senate. Needless to say I was very disappointed in his decision.
Put pressure on her to resign not only from leadership spots but also to resign from the Republican Party. Those that have these liberal, idiotic views are demorats in disguise. This is also why all these establishment idiots should be limited to term limits and NOT be allowed to lobby for a certain amount of years after leaving office.
I heard he was not going to run – probably because he knows he won’t win, but, I called and emailed him anyways to let him know he’s damaged the party…I also let McConnell know that bad actors like Tommey Cheney and he himself, are why lots of conservatives will likely sit out the 2022 elections. Now Mitch is coming out sticking up for her….I’m disgusted with the GOP
Maybe if EVERY VOTER that’s registered as a republican, EMAILS/writtes/calls their GOP reps, and tells them “CAUSE OF YOUR antics we as a bloc, will ALL STAY HOME in 2022”, they MIGHT GET THE HINT..
Emphasis on Might!
Any conservative who sits out an election is not a real conservative, but rather an idiot. How the #ell can you defeat them if you do not vote. If you do not vote, you have no one but yourself to blame.
Liz, you Mitt and all of the Republicans In Name Only, should move to and run for office in California, Oregon and Washington. You, Liz the liberal, will fit right in, with those three communist states.
If politicians can change their minds once elected, America needs and must be allowed to do the same and change their vote.
About time conservatives started slaming these Establishment Traitors. Run them the hell out of the party.
WE should have been doing that, YEARS AGO..
Cheney is the reason the demonRats are winning – they stick together and when their leaders say shut up they do and fall in line. republicans go against their own party all the time (you don’t see this with the left except when campaigning – just look at kamala’s remarks about slo joe) and whether they (republicans) get it or not, it’s the reason many conservatives don’t come out to vote anymore.
IMO some in the GOP ‘get it’, they just don’t CARE..