Trump was right about her.
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) criticized her fellow Republicans for enabling “white nationalism, white supremacy, and anti-semitism” following the mass shooting at a grocery store in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Buffalo, that was allegedly executed by a White supremacist.
On Monday (May 16), Cheney — who was ousted from her leadership role in the House Republican caucus after becoming one of Trump’s most vocal GOP critics and joining the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attacks — urged her GOP colleagues to “renounce and reject” White supremacy views.
In a tweet, Cheney said, “The House GOP leadership has enabled white nationalism, white supremacy, and anti-semitism. 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.”
Cheney’s call came two days after a gunman killed 10 people and injured 3 at a Tops Friendly Market on Saturday (May 14). 11 of the 13 victims are Black, and police are pursuing the case as a hate crime.
Saturday’s shooting also has thrown the “great replacement theory” into the spotlight, a theory espoused in the manifesto written by suspected shooter Payton Gendron, an 18-year-old from Conklin, N.Y.
The theory claims an intentional effort is underway to replace White Americans with people of color through immigration.
According to The New York Times, Gendron also referenced other White Supremacist mass shooters, like Dylann Roof, who killed nine Black people in 2015 at a South Carolina church.
Saturday’s mass shooting also placed the spotlight on several GOP lawmakers, including Cheney’s replacement as chair of the House GOP conference Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.).
Stefanik is accused of espousing rhetoric similar to the premise of the great replacement theory.
In September, Stefanik ran an ad that claimed “radical Democrats” would “grant amnesty to 11 MILLION illegal immigrants [who] will overthrow our current electorate and create a permanent liberal majority in Washington.”
At the time, The Times Union of Albany, Stefanik’s hometown newspaper, called the ad “despicable.”
Stefanik responded on Facebook, saying, “To equate opposition to illegal immigration with Nazism and white supremacy is a desperate attempt to stoke outrage & avoid covering Joe Biden’s border crisis.”
