Liz Cheney's Family Lost A 60-Year Friendship Over Their Criticism Of Trump
Nothing can shake the foundation of a friendship or family quite like politics, and the politicians themselves certainly aren't exempt from the effects of their professional field. Such was the case for former Rep. Liz Cheney's family, who lost a decades-long friendship over divisive feelings toward former President Donald Trump.
Cheney, whose father was the former Vice President of the United States during the George W. Bush administration, detailed the tension falling out in her memoir, "Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning." The memoir outlines Cheney's perspective as a Republican leader of the Congressional Select Committee tasked with investigating the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
In the book, Cheney discusses her opinions of Trump and the political arena in general, but she also includes testimony of how her and her family's beliefs affected their relationships. Cheney's mother, for example, lost a six-decade-long friendship with a former classmate over impassable disagreements over the former president, with whom Cheney said the friend became completely "enamored" (via People).
Liz Cheney said her mother's friend picked Trump over their friendship
Liz Cheney spoke to People about her memoir, explaining, "I talk in the book about one of my mother's oldest friends, someone she'd been friends with since they went to Girls State in Wyoming together in the 1950s." Cheney said her mother's friend became such a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump that when the Cheneys continued to be outspoken against Trump, the friend ended the life-long relationship.
The disagreement between Liz Cheney's mother, Lynne Cheney, and her friend came to a head after the Capitol riot. The unnamed friend suggested that the rioters were part of the Black Lives Matter and ANTIFA movement — a false claim that has since been disproved by multiple news outlets, including NPR. When Lynne tried to tell her friend this, their argument boiled over into a dissolution of their decades-long friendship.
"She threw away a friendship of over 60 years with my mother and my family for nothing," Liz wrote in her memoir (via The New York Times). Friendships wouldn't be the only thing the Cheneys lost by taking up a strong anti-Trump stance following the 2021 riot.
Liz Cheney's outspokenness against Trump has also affected her career
Liz Cheney has yet to back down in her fight against Donald Trump despite its significant effects on her personal and professional life. In addition to losing life-long relationships, Cheney was ousted by the Wyoming GOP in November 2021. Politicians who participated in the largely symbolic vote accused the former Congresswoman of having "caused massive disruption, distraction, and division within the House Republican Conference" (via ABC News).
And, of course, Cheney's outspokenness has also put her in the crosshairs of Donald Trump's sharp-tongued online criticisms. The former president was quick to share his reaction to Cheney's Congressional defeat in August 2022, condemning the politician for her actions and suggesting she should be ashamed of her behavior on his social media platform Truth Social.
Trump similarly didn't mince words when discussing another aspect of Cheney's memoir — his mental state. After Cheney claimed in "Oath and Honor" that Trump was depressed after the 2020 election, the former president vehemently denied these claims, calling her "Crazy Liz Cheney, who suffers from Trump Derangement Syndrome at a level rarely seen before" on Truth Social. Still, it's clear that no matter who or what Cheney loses in the process, she is standing firm in her beliefs.