Media

Mika Brzezinski: Despite political differences, Cheney will ‘always’ have my respect

by Dominick Mastrangelo - 05/18/21 9:51 AM ET

MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski said Monday while she disagrees with Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) on virtually every political topic, she will “always” respect her for rebuking former President Trump’s unsupported claims of a stolen election.

“Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and I have much in common,” Brzezinski wrote on NBC.com on Monday. “We’re the same age. We grew up in McLean, Virginia with fathers in public service. Our dads were known to be tough, uncompromising Cold Warriors who also knew how to occasionally throw sharp elbows around the West Wing. Most importantly, they were both great dads.”

The co-host of “Morning Joe” added: “But as much as we have in common, there’s more that divides us.”

Brzezinski said Cheney’s “uncompromising resilience and principled strength were on display once again this week” when she was booted from her position as House GOP conference chair after she rejected Trump’s claims about the 2020 presidential election.

“There are vanishingly few political issues on which Liz and I agree,” Brzezinski added. “I’d guess she feels the same way. But after the past week, she has my absolute respect. And she always will.”

Cheney said this weekend after her Republican colleagues voted to oust her from leadership that she had a “responsibility as an elected official, it’s my responsibility as a leader, to lead and to tell the truth.”

“As Joe and I watched her eloquent defense of American democracy, neither of us were surprised by her iron will,” Brzezinski said, applauding Cheney.

Brzezinski mentioned a dust-up between the two women that she called “a bad moment in my TV career,” after she laughed on-air at a David Letterman joke made at the expense of her ailing father, former Vice President Dick Cheney.

“Liz wrote me a really tough letter after that — and rightly rebuked me. And when I say it was a tough letter, let me just say it was Cheney tough. She did not mince words. Even when I called to apologize, she did not let me off the hook. Not even a bit,” Brzezinski wrote.

“While I had little use for her politics and had never really been able to find a way to connect with her personally, I was impressed by a daughter’s fierce defense of her father. Watching my own father (a former national security advisor under Jimmy Carter) attacked over the decades made me appreciate that letter even more.”

Following her removal from her leadership position, Cheney doubled down on her criticism of Trump, telling NBC’s Savannah Guthrie that she would do “whatever it takes” to keep Trump out of the White House.

“I’m gonna do everything that I can. Both to make sure that that never happens, but also to make sure that the Republican Party gets back to substance and policy,” Cheney said last week.

Tags Donald Trump Jimmy Carter Liz Cheney