U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, will appear at the Wyoming State Capitol in Cheyenne this week to speak out against his colleague U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, he said Monday.
During a phone call with reporters, Gaetz announced he will be at the Capitol in Cheyenne at 1 p.m. Thursday to criticize Cheney for her vote to impeach former President Donald Trump.
Also during the call, the representative called for Cheney’s removal as the House Republican Conference chair, a position she has held since 2019. However, he reiterated to reporters that he didn’t want her job as the conference chair.
“Let me be clear: Republicans really have no power in Washington, D.C., right now,” Gaetz said. “The principal job of the conference chair is to carry the message of their fellow Republicans. Most of the members of the Republican Conference don’t believe Liz Cheney speaks for them.”
The House Republican Conference is responsible for electing the House Republican leadership, approving GOP member committee assignments, managing leadership-driven floor debates and executing a communications strategy within the party.
The conference will meet next week to discuss the roles of the chair and whether or not Cheney should be removed from her position.
Gaetz, who won election to his third term in November, said he was already opposed to Cheney’s positions, but her vote to impeach President Donald Trump was the catalyst for this visit to Wyoming.
The representative backed the former president during the call on Monday, saying the Republican Party should embrace Trump’s spirit and style.
“I believe we ought to have an America-first policy agenda,” Gaetz said. “There are corporatist and establishment members of our party who want to go backwards, they want to go back to the days of the Bushes, the Cheneys and the Powells.”
Cheney wasn’t the only target in Gaetz’s sight, as he added he plans on traveling frequently this year to campaign against the other nine Republicans who voted to impeach Trump.
