Despite deeply political intra-party pushback, Rep. Cheney's public criticism of former US President Donald Trump remained unchanged during her Sunday appearance on ABC's "This Week."
"He crossed lines no American president has ever crossed before," Cheney told George Stephanopoulos, agreeing with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's assertion that the reelection of Trump, or someone "of his ilk," could upend US democracy and the nation's status as a republic.
The US Republican representative from Wyoming asserted that Americans must be made aware of Trump's dereliction of duties on January 6, 2021.
"As he was sitting there in the dining room next to the Oval Office, members of his staff were pleading with him to go on television, to tell people to stop," Cheney said of the former US president. "We know [House Minority] Leader McCarthy was pleading with him."
"We have firsthand testimony that his daughter, Ivanka, went in at least twice to ask him to please stop this violence," noted Cheney.
"Any man who would not do so; any man who would provoke a violent assault on the Capitol to stop the counting of Electoral [College] votes; any man who would watch television as police officers were being beaten as his supporters were invading the Capitol of the United States is clearly unfit for future office," Cheney added.
Cheney's media appearance comes alongside the active House Select Committee probe led by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), and nearly a year after the deadly riot in Washington, DC.
Cheney and Rep. Adam Kinzinger, another Conservative member of the GOP, are the only Republicans on the 9-member panel. Their involvement has resulted in extreme pushback from political heavyweights in the GOP.
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It is worth noting that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi provided McCarthy with an opportunity to select up to five members to appear on the board, but rescinded all five of his proposed appointees after the speaker rejected the submissions of Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Jim Banks (R-ID).
Cheney has faced formal rebukes in her own GOP-controlled state, including a Wyoming Republican Party decision in November to no longer recognize her as a Republican, despite being the state's representation in the US House. The move followed a 31-29 vote by the state party's GOP-controlled central committee.
It is unlikely that the intra-party struggle between pro-Trump and conservative Republicans will simmer anytime soon, as the House Select Committee is presently gearing up to release information gathered during the ongoing probe. Upcoming televised hearings, according to some, will likely reignite public conservation on the deadly insurrection and its fallout.