Adam Schiff Trips Over Himself To Praise Liz Cheney As MSNBC Host Eggs Him On

Adam Schiff Trips Over Himself To Praise Liz Cheney As MSNBC Host Eggs Him On

Harold Hutchison on November 29, 2023

Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California lavished praise on former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming for her work on the Jan. 6 committee Wednesday after an MSNBC host led him on.

Cheney criticized the Republican Party in a new book slated to come out Dec. 5, claiming one Republican congressman called former President Donald Trump “the Orange Jesus,” according to CNN. “I never thought I would be singing so many praises of a Cheney before, but I came to deeply respect her,” Schiff said of Cheney, who was defeated by Harriet Hageman by 37 points in a primary during the 2022 midterm election.

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“Cheney said she has admiration for [Democratic Rep. Nancy] Pelosi’s leadership, she agrees with Pelosi on the one thing that matters most,” “Deadline: White House” guest host Alicia Menendez told Schiff. “[Democratic Rep. Jamie] Raskin has said much the same. They do agree on safeguarding democracy. Is there a cross party coalition for democracy? What would it look like for a group of Republicans and Democrats to come together on this core issue?”

“I love that anecdote about Nancy Pelosi, because it’s so classic Nancy Pelosi. It doesn’t matter what Liz may have said in the past, what matters and mattered to Nancy Pelosi is, is she the right person for this committee to do this work, and she clearly was,” Schiff responded. “You know, but for Adam [Kinzinger] and Liz on that committee, none of these witnesses would have come forward. What made the hearing so powerful is that all the witnesses, almost all of them were Republicans that came forward because of Liz and Adam.”

Pelosi barred Republican Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Jim Banks of Indiana from serving on the Jan. 6 Select Committee, prompting a Republican boycott of the panel. She later appointed Cheney and Kinzinger, both outspoken critics of Trump, to the panel.

“With the leadership of Bennie Thompson, we worked together, notwithstanding, you know, deep ideological differences that each of us had with each other,” Schiff told Menendez, the daughter of indicted Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey. “I never thought I would be singing so many praises of a Cheney before, but I came to deeply respect her, and I think that was very mutual in terms of all of us on the committee. So, I think there certainly is a cross-party nonpartisan coalition devoted to our Constitution.”

Then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy refused to allow Schiff to serve on the House Intelligence Committee in January. The House of Representatives censured Schiff for making false claims that former President Donald Trump colluded with Russia during his 2016 presidential campaign.