Warren says Republican Party ‘eating itself and it is discovering that the meal is poisonous’

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Wednesday said the GOP was “eating itself and it is discovering that the meal is poisonous” in the wake of House Republicans voting to oust Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) from her leadership position.

Warren was asked in an interview with “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” if she thought the Cheney vote was a short-term plan to prevent primary challenges, or if the party thinks it will help them win back the House majority in 2022.

Warren replied that the actions were “all about loyalty to one human being,” referring to former President Trump.

TONIGHT! @SenWarren reacts to Rep. Cheney’s ouster from GOP leadership: “The Republican Party is eating itself and it is discovering that the meal is poisonous.” pic.twitter.com/e4AYGtk1nv

— A Late Show (@colbertlateshow) May 12, 2021

“It’s not about democracy, it’s not about principle, it’s not about anything except everyone has to bend a knee and pledge loyalty to one human being,” Warren told host Stephen Colbert.

“We’ve never done this in our country. This is not how a democracy functions. You know, we’ve had so many record-breaking events, a president who just won by more than 7 million votes, that was a new national record. And an opponent that wouldn’t concede defeat, which is also a new national record, and he wants nothing but personal loyalty,” she added.

House Republicans earlier on Wednesday decided, by voice vote, to purge Cheney from her leadership post, punishing the Wyoming Republican for her anti-Trump stance and openly acknowledging his defeat in the presidential election.

Sources inside the closed-door meeting said the vote against Cheney was overwhelming, with some guessing that the split was 3 to 1.

Specifically, GOP lawmakers were frustrated with Cheney’s repeated criticism of Trump’s false claims that the election was stolen.

Cheney emerged from the closed-door meeting minutes after her ouster, telling reporters “I will do everything I can to ensure that the former president never again gets anywhere near the Oval Office.”

New York Rep. Elise Stefanik (R) is the likely successor to Cheney as House GOP conference chair. On Sunday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) threw his support behind the four-term congresswoman.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), however, did not rule out running for the leadership position on Wednesday.

“We’re here to talk about other topics but I will say this, [Stefanik] should have an opponent,” Roy said.