Liz Cheney's 'Revolution' Will Be Televised

It's your Sunday show rundown!

Liz Cheney was ousted from her GOP House leadership position last week, and it appears her revolution to "save" the GOP is off to a rough start. She was all over the Sunday shows, though.

There were moments when it appeared Cheney may not realize the extent of the rot in conservatism. On "Fox News Sunday," Chris Wallace set up the interview asking Cheney to respond to GOP Rep. Jim Banks's ridiculous statement about Cheney being a "distraction" from the very important hard work the GOP is doing opposing Joe Biden and trying to win back Congress in 2022. Cheney explained why she could not ignore the truth and just play along with Donald Trump's fantasies, so Wallace asked again with slightly different words:

Liz Cheney to Chris Wallace on Trump: "He is a continuing danger to our system. Those millions of people that you mentioned who supported [him] have been misled, they've been betrayed." pic.twitter.com/vdbi4jvxie 
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 16, 2021 

WALLACE: But I guess the -- the argument is, just as a practical politician, and you are a practical politician, what about the millions -- tens of millions of Republican voters who still support Donald Trump? Why alienate them? I guess the question is, you know, just ignore them, just don't take the bait and focus on your issues. He's -- he's a -- living in Mar-a-Lago.

CHENEY: Well, you know, I wish we could do that, Chris, but, unfortunately, as I've said over the course of the last several weeks, former President Trump continues to be a real danger. What he's doing and what he's saying, his claims, his refusal to accept decisions by the courts, his claims continued as recently as yesterday that somehow this election was stolen. You know, what he's doing is he's causing people to believe that they can't count on our electoral process to actually convey the will of the people. […] Those millions of people that you mentioned who supported the president have been misled. They've been betrayed. And certainly as we see his continued action to attack our democracy, his continued refusal to accept the results of the last election, you see that ongoing danger.

But Trump is not just "living in Mar-a-Lago" enjoying his retirement, Wallace. He's actively STILL encouraging the rhetoric that led to the January 6 attack. He's set up aquasi-shadow presidency  blog while being encouraged by the Republican Party, releasing "official" declarations as if he still was the President.

If telling the truth or acknowledging reality alienates Republicans, then what is the point of taking the Republican Party seriously? They should be looked at the same way we look at Libertarian Party "debates" orDan Crenshaw's faux -action movie political ads. 

Speaking of Dan Cringeshaw, he appeared on NBC's "Meet The Press," where he encountered a rare anomaly: Chuck Todd pushback. When Crenshaw tried the same Jim Banks "distraction" talking point and tried to blame the press for it, Todd actually called him out. 

Dan Crenshaw doesn't like Chuck Todd bringing up the fact that he signed onto the Texas lawsuit to toss out swing s… https: //t.co/HUWWPBUaXk

— Justin Baragona (@Justin Baragona) 1621172356.0 

Before we overpraise Chuck Todd or make him feel like he actually did his job, we should note his pushback was more being incredulous that Crenshaw would call him or the press "liberal." When Todd is not busy trying "both sides" everything, he's busy insuring the GOP has his full megaphone.

Meet the Press, the top-rated Sunday show, is roaming in plain sight as a vehicle for Republican talking points and… https: //t.co/1mIU5q0rYl

— Matt Negrin, HOST OF HARDBALL AT 7PM ON MSNBC (@Matt Negrin, HOST OF HARDBALL AT 7PM ON MSNBC) 1621178093.0 

This is not unique to NBC News, of course. On ABC's "This Week," Martha Raddatz wasted time and money flying to Wyoming to air out the grievances of Trump supporters.

ABC traveled to Wyoming to interview random Trump supporters. One was given airtime to push a wild conspiracy theor… https: //t.co/lAmT1s6GfI

— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1621174956.0 

Because when Trump was elected, we needed to understand his voters' views and why they elected him. Now that Biden has been elected, we need to understand Trump voters' views and why they are cool with insurrections to undo democracy. Seems fair, no?

This is the same Martha Raddatz and ABC News that also flew everyone and made a makeshift set "at the border" to cover "the crisis" two months ago .

So while we can respect Liz Cheney for not going along with insurrections or supporting Trump's Big Lie, because it at least shows there is a red line left for a handful of Republicans, we have to understand that no amount of reason will make a lot of "sane" GOP voters suddenly vote for Democrats.

Hell, even Cheney made that clear to Jonathan Karl on a pre-taped interview on "This Week":

 youtu.be   

KARL: Did you vote for Donald Trump in 2020?

CHENEY: I did.

KARL: Do you regret that vote?

CHENEY: Look, I think that the --

KARL: I mean, how could you not regret that vote, given what's happened?

CHENEY: Yeah. I mean, look, I was never going to support Joe Biden, and I do regret the vote.

As a wise writer once said: "If you have a steakhouse competing with a vegan restaurant, even if the steakhouse is run by Nazis, most steak lovers won't become vegan on principle."

Same goes with Republicans: They will not become Democrats no matter how much you "understand" or try to "sway them." We do need an opposition party, just not a crazy one encouraged by Trump or a befuddled press platforming it.

Have a week.

Wonkette is fully funded by readers like you! If you love Wonkette, FUND WONKETTE.

 Do your Amazon shopping through this link, because reasons .