The former Natrona County Republican chairman appeared on CNN Wednesday to discuss why he voted against rescinding U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney’s Republican credentials and to criticize the “extremists” running the Wyoming Republican Party.
Dr. Joe McGinley spoke with CNN host John Berman on Wednesday about the vote the Wyoming Republican Party held over the weekend to rescind recognition of Cheney as a Republican.
“I was just surprised this topic came up again,” McGinley said. ” However…the state party…the leadership is somewhat irrelevant at this point and felt the need to bring the topic back up again, to my surprise. And you know, this is even crazier. I mean, you can’t tell someone that they’re not a Republican. If they register as a Republican and say they’re Republican, then they’re a Republican.”
The Republican State Central Committee on Saturday voted 31-29 in support of a resolution that states that it will no longer recognize Cheney as a member of the Republican Party because of her vote to impeach former President Trump and her criticism of Trump’s perpetuation of the claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.
McGinley said there is a real silent majority in Wyoming of “true conservatives” who believe in morals, ethics and humility.
“They don’t want to come up and express their opinion to everyone. They go to the polls. That’s where they express their opinion,” McGinley said. “They also don’t want to be harassed. There’s a lot of extremists even within our own party, that if you express an opinion that differs from theirs…they’re going to try to embarrass you. They’re going to harass you on social media. You might even get censured by the state party for speaking out.”
McGinley said people do not want to be put in the spotlight for political opinions and are afraid to share their thoughts regarding the happenings in the party.
McGinley also told Berman extremists have taken over the state Republican Party organization, as well as many county parties across the state.
However, he added he has faith in the voters, both in Wyoming and nationally.
“The common voter does not agree with this type of messaging or behavior,” McGinley said. “There’s a lot of individuals that really do support the policies of President Trump, but also support Rep. Cheney. So, those individuals also are afraid to speak out. [Extremists are] oppressing the voice of the individual by creating fear and essentially a larger group of individuals that just don’t want to participate.”
McGinley noted that Cheney’s voting record showed she consistently backed Trump while he was in office and added even now, her voting record is one of the most conservative in the House. He said these facts aren’t brought up among Republicans because they are not “convenient” facts.
“As a true Republican…you want a representative that represents your conservative values and principles, and someone that’s going to vote the way the party really wants you to vote overall with principles. So, that’s what we see with Rep. Cheney and her voting record. Really, you can’t question it,” he said.
