Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said on Sunday that former President Trump is using more extreme language than he did prior to the Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol.
Trump’s rhetoric about the 2020 presidential election being stolen has been blamed for motivating many of his supporters who attempted to prevent Congress from certifying the results.
At a rally before the insurrection, he told his supporters: “We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”
Cheney told CBS News correspondent Robert Costa in an interview on “Sunday Morning” that the former president was only becoming more inflammatory as the next elections approach.
“You know, we are not in a situation where former President Trump has expressed any sense of remorse about what happened,” she said.
“We are in fact in a situation where he continues to use even more extreme language, frankly, than the language that caused the attack. And so, people must pay attention. People must watch, and they must understand how easily our democratic system can unravel if we don’t defend it.”
Trump has endorsed hundreds of candidates in the upcoming midterms who reiterated his claims of election fraud, while backing opponents of those lawmakers and state officials who have crossed him over the election.
Cheney also told Costa that she believes the Republican Party nowadays is a “cult,” with many members aligning themselves with Trump’s even when his actions undermined democracy.
“Is the Republican Party a personality cult?” Costa asked the congresswoman.
“I think that large segments of it have certainly become that,” Cheney replied.
“A cult?” Costa clarified.
“Yeah. I mean, I think there is absolutely a cult of personality around Donald Trump. And I think that, you know, the majority of Republicans across the country don’t want to see our system unravel,” Cheney added. “They understand how important it is to protect and defend the Constitution.”
Cheney’s remarks come as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack announced on Thursday that it will hold its first hearing in prime time, promising to unveil new documents and findings about the attack more than a year ago.
Cheney, who was one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection, is one of two GOP members of the select committee investigating that day, along with Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.).
Cheney was ousted from her leadership position with the House Republican Conference due to her persistent criticism of Trump and his role in the insurrection.