Led by 2012 Republican presidential nominee and Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, establishment Republicans spent the weekend slamming the Republican National Committee’s vote on Friday to cut off support for Reps. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill.
“Shame falls on a party that would censure persons of conscience, who seek truth in the face of vitriol,” Romney tweeted shortly after the RNC passed its controversial resolution on the two House members. “Honor attaches to Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for seeking truth even when doing so comes at great personal cost.”
He was joined on Twitter by Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who declared: “It's a sad day for my party — and the country — when you're punished just for expressing your beliefs.”
With a unanimous vote from its Resolutions Committee, the full 165-member RNC passed the resolution ending its support for Cheney and Kinzinger on a voice vote at the winter meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The resolution, which specifically condemned the two lawmakers for their participation in the Jan. 6 commission, was backed by RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel (who is Romney’s niece).
Kinzinger is not affected by the measure, as he is retiring this year. But In denying Cheney funding, the RNC opens up the possibility that it could actually support her Trump-endorsed primary opponent Harriet Hageman — an unprecedented move for the RNC, which almost always backs incumbent members of Congress unless they are involved in criminal activity.
To many who have long been attending and reporting on RNC meetings, the vote to cut off Cheney and Kinzinger represents a seismic change in the party. In 1998, following a rancorous debate at their meeting in Palm Springs, California, the RNC resoundingly rejected a resolution that would have ended funding to any candidate who did not support a ban on partial birth abortion.
The late Rep. Henry Hyde, R.-Ill, author of the eponymous amendment banning federal funding for abortion, came to the party conclave to argue against the resolution and admonish members not to end support for candidates because they disagreed on one particular issue. Only 45 RNC members ended up voting yes.
24 years later, the RNC did decide with relatively little argument that it could stop backing candidates over one issue — no matter what others in the party hierarchy felt.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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