The White House has blasted House Republicans for ousting Rep. Liz Cheney as a party leader for her repeated scrutiny of former President Donald Trump’s claims the 2020 election was stolen from him and his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki referenced Trump’s slew of unsuccessful election contest lawsuits as President Joe Biden hosted House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in the Oval Office a few hours after McCarthy’s conference pushed Cheney, a Wyoming Republican, out of its leadership ranks.
“It’s disturbing to see any leader, regardless of party, being attacked for simply speaking the truth. And as the president said last week, it’s hard to understand,” Psaki told reporters Wednesday.
BIDEN PRESSURED FROM BOTH SIDES OVER UNEMPLOYMENT BOOST
The White House believes voters should be the final arbiters on whether “the people they elected to represent them should be embracing and elevating conspiracies and attacks on our democracy,” according to Psaki.
“Or whether [they] should be standing up for ideals that have historically been owned by both Democrats and Republicans representing the country,” she said.
House Republicans removed Cheney as the conference’s chairwoman in a voice vote Wednesday morning. On Wednesday afternoon, Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer were joined by McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell at the White House for the first bipartisan, bicameral meeting between the top congressional leaders of Biden’s administration.
Psaki was pressed on whether a deal could be struck on Biden’s $4 trillion-plus infrastructure and social welfare proposals if House Republicans were still questioning the results of the 2020 election.
“The president is no stranger to working with people who he disagrees with, or he has massive fundamental disagreements with,” she said. “The facts are on our side, and more than 80 judges across the country threw out lawsuits attempting to overturn the outcome of the election.”
She added: “The president believes his role is to lead by example and to offer an alternative of leadership to the American people, which is reaching his hand across the aisle, offering to work with members of both parties on addressing issues the American people have concerns about.”
After the 90-minute long meeting, McCarthy told reporters House Republicans’ likely elevation of New York Rep. Elise Stefanik to the No. 3 leadership position did not reflect his conference’s views on the 2020 election. Stefanik has been a staunch Trump ally regarding claims of election fraud.
“Well, first of all, the conference will decide, but I don’t think anybody is questioning the legitimacy of the presidential election. I think that is all over with sitting here with the president today,” he said, even though he has done just that and met with Trump since the former president left office.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Earlier this week, Psaki said the White House would leave House Republicans to “work out” their intraparty “squabble” “among themselves.” Biden last week admitted he did not “understand” the House GOP’s reaction to Cheney’s resistance to Trump’s election claims.
