Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) on Sunday said former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo) is “significantly in the minority” when it comes to her opposition to former President Trump.
“I do think she actually is significantly in the minority. Here, you look across the board, prominent Republicans are supporting President Trump, but ultimately, I think she’s a non factor,” Sanders said on ABC News’s “This Week.” “I’m not trying to be rude, but you don’t get to call yourself a conservative or Republican when you support the most radical nominee that the Democrats have ever put up.”
“That doesn’t make you a conservative, it certainly doesn’t make you a Republican. I think it makes you somebody who wants to protect the establishment,” she added.
The comments came in response to Cheney’s earlier remarks on “This Week,” during which she maintained she is still a conservative while voicing her opposition to Trump.
Cheney, who became one of the most outspoken critics of Trump following the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, threw her support behind Harris last week and said she doesn’t think Republicans against Trump “have the luxury of writing in candidates’ names.”
Sanders on Sunday said she doesn’t think Cheney’s endorsement of Harris is “news.”
“It should come as no shock that Liz Cheney is not supporting the president, but what should come as a shock is that she is trying to call herself a conservative Republican, or either one of those two words, while supporting somebody who so clearly does not represent conservative principles,” Sanders said.
Cheney argued the Republican Party has shifted under the leadership of Trump, calling it “indefensible.”
“I hope to be able to rebuild, as I said, after this cycle. But I also think it’s really important for us, as we’re thinking about rebuilding, as we’re thinking about the future of the country, to recognize that at the end of the day, the vast majority of people in this country want to know fundamentally, that their elected officials are going to defend the peaceful transfer of power and that they are going to put the Constitution first,” she said.
“And as someone is you know, who’s been a lifelong Republican, it’s heartbreaking to me to see what has happened to so many of the elected officials in my party, and I know we can do better,” Cheney added.
Sanders, who served as a White House press secretary during the Trump presidency, has historically supported Trump.
The Hill reached out to Cheney’s team for comment.
