Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

US Rep. Liz Cheney talks impeachment, January 6th, and the future of the GOP at Syracuse University

US Representative Liz Cheney and Syracuse University Vice Chancellor, Provost and Chief Academic Officer sit across from each other on stage.
Thomas Honan
/
WAER.org
U.S. House Representative Liz Cheney and Gretchen Ritter, Syracuse University Vice Chancellor, Provost and Chief Academic Officer, sit on stage inside the Goldstein Auditorium on Oct. 3, 2022.

Embattled Republican congress member Liz Cheney continues to stand up for what she calls the "survival of the republic" Monday during her visit to Syracuse University.

Cheney is one of the 10 Republican House members who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump for his role in inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The Wyoming representative serves as the vice chair of the House Select Committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack and spends most of her time discussing the insurrection.

Voting for the impeachment of Trump resulted in Cheney being rejected by a majority of her House colleagues and voters in her home state. But, she stuck by her decision and called Trump's role in the attack indefensible.

"Donald Trump sending a mob he knew was angry, and he knew was armed to the capitol in an attempt to stop the counting of electoral votes is so clearly indefensible that it is inexplicable to me that so many in my party are defending it," Cheney said during the event.

Cheney said the actions which instigated the attack at the Capitol, weaken this country's foundation and make the behavior increasingly acceptable.

"One of the most dangerous and destructive things that Donald Trump did was go to war with the rule of law," she said.

Cheney said Trump continues to incite political violence in a recent personal attack on Mitch McConnell.

"Using words that could well cause violence against the Republican leader of the Senate, saying he has a death wish," Cheney said. "Then launching an absolutely despicable racist attack against secretary Chao, leader McConnell's wife, and then you watch the fact that nobody in my party will say that's unacceptable."

The future for the Republican party isn't looking good, according to Cheney, who said the outburst of lies regarding the 2020 election has become more widespread.

"I think that the party itself has to get back to a place where we're able to say this is what we stand for, this is why people should vote for us, this is what we believe in and being able to convey to people that they can trust us," Cheney said. "I think we have a long way to go."

Cheney did take questions on other topics, including education and energy. She said those who believe the U.S. should quickly embrace renewable energy might overlook how cleanly the U.S. can burn fossil fuels and the unintended consequences.

"When you put policies in place that make it harder for us to produce our own energy in the United States, the immediate result of that is that you are making us dependent upon countries that have policies that are important to us and countries that don't produce energy as cleanly as we do," Cheney said.

Cheney is now in the final months of her third term in office after recently losing in her primary race. But, she said she will not back down from her duty to defend the republic and encouraged the audience of mostly college students to step up and do the same.

"Every single one of us has a duty to make sure this isn't the last generation that knows a peaceful transfer of power in this great nation," Cheney said. "I'm absolutely committed to doing everything that I can to make sure that is the case."

The discussion, held in the Goldstein Auditorium in the Schine Student Center, was open to all Syracuse University faculty, staff, students and alumni. Cheney's full conversation is accessible on the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs website.

Scott Willis covers politics, local government, transportation, and arts and culture for WAER. He came to Syracuse from Detroit in 2001, where he began his career in radio as an intern and freelance reporter. Scott is honored and privileged to bring the day’s news and in-depth feature reporting to WAER’s dedicated and generous listeners. You can find him on twitter @swillisWAER and email him at srwillis@syr.edu.