The racially motivated shooting in Buffalo, New York, that left 10 people dead is the result of extremist behavior enabled by Republican leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives, said U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney.
Cheney blamed the Republican leadership for enabling views that were espoused by the shooter.
“The House GOP leadership has enabled white nationalism, white supremacy, and anti-semitism,” tweeted Cheney on Monday morning. “History has taught us that what begins with words ends in far worse. @GOP leaders must renounce and reject these views and those who hold them.”
Ten people were killed and three more injured in the attack in a “Tops” supermarket.
Before the attack, alleged perpetrator Paytron Gendron, 18, was accused of posting a racist tirade online, espousing admiration for gunmen guilty of mass shootings. He also allegedly expressed support for “replacement theory,” a conspiracy asserting white Americans are being replaced with immigrants or people of color.
The idea of American culture being replaced by cultures of foreign immigrants was discussed at the Wyoming GOP convention earlier this month, particularly during debate over whether English should become the nation’s official language.
Harriet Hageman, one of Cheney’s opponents in the Republican primary for Wyoming’s lone U.S. House seat, took exception to Cheney’s criticism.
“I don’t know what that gentleman did or what motivated him but I can assure you I had nothing to do with it,” Hageman said on KRAE radio Monday. “And all of the Republicans I know and work with had nothing to do with that, so for her to come out and attack fellow conservatives and Republicans for soundbites for Democrats isn’t what I want my representative in Wyoming to do, that isn’t furthering the America-first agenda.”
Hageman accused Cheney of failing to work with other members of the party and of only coordinating with Democrats.
In the interview Hageman criticized Republicans who she said were “consistently compromising” on core values and said she will not compromise with Democrats.
Hageman said Republicans are still “very united” as a party.
“I think that the party is very united, the party is very united in getting conservatives elected at the local level, state level, and the national level,” she said.
Cheney has been a frequent critic of former President Donald Trump, voting to impeach him on allegations he urged rioters to attack the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Cheney is vice chair of the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack, one of only two Republicans on this committee.
“The only time that Liz Cheney has reached across the aisle to work with Democrats is on the very things she should have never been reaching across the aisle on,” Hageman said.
Trump endorsed Hageman’s U.S. House campaign within hours of her announcement she would seek the office.
