Anti-Trump Cheney removed from House Republican leadership

WASHINGTON, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Veteran Republican lawmaker Liz Cheney, a fierce critic of former U.S. President Donald Trump, was removed from House Republican leadership on Wednesday morning.

As chair of the GOP House Conference, Cheney, also a three-term congresswoman, has been the third-ranking Republican member of the House.

Cheney was booed when criticizing Trump in her opening remarks before the vote to remove her, according to a CNN report.

"We cannot let the former president drag us backward and make us complicit in his efforts to unravel our democracy," Cheney said, refusing to stay quiet about Trump's election fraud claims.

Moments after vote to remove Cheney, New York congresswoman Elise Stefanik, an outspoken Trump defender, sent a letter to her colleagues outlining why she wants to fill the post Cheney left.

"Today I humbly ask to earn your vote for House Republican Conference Chair to unify our message as a team and win the Majority in 2022," Stefanik wrote.

Trump released a statement shortly after the ousting of Cheney, calling her a "bitter, horrible human being" and "a talking point for Democrats." The former president endorsed Stefanik earlier this month, describing her "a far superior choice."

Cheney spoke on the House floor on the eve of the voting, vowing to continue her fight against Trump's baseless claims of widespread voter fraud, which she describes as "The Big Lie."

"A former president, who provoked a violent attack on this capital in an effort to steal the election, has resumed his aggressive effort to convince Americans that the election was stolen from him," she said.

"He risks inciting further violence. Millions of Americans have been misled by the former president, they have heard only his words, but not the truth." she added.

The GOP's move to oust Cheney was recently precipitated when she greeted U.S. President Joe Biden at the Capitol and tweeted that Biden won the election fair and square.