The Most Damning Details From Liz Cheney’s Book on the GOP, January 6, and “Orange Jesus”

Liz Cheney was a three-term US congresswoman, the third-ranking Republican in the House, the daughter of a former Republican vice president, and a deeply hard-line conservative when she made, in the GOP’s eyes, an unforgivable, borderline treasonous mistake: voting to impeach Donald Trump for inciting an insurrection on January 6, 2021. That she then refused to apologize and instead continued to loudly proclaim the 45th president a clear and present danger to democracy led to her being ousted from her leadership position. Her role as vice chair on the January 6 committee no doubt sealed the deal (re: her losing her House seat to MAGA convert Harriet Hageman).

Since leaving Congress in January, Cheney has continued to warn against the threat posed by Trump, and in a new book, Oath and Honor, absolutely flames her former colleagues for pathetically propping the guy up. In advance of its publication next week, CNN obtained a copy, the wildest details of which include:

“Orange Jesus”

According to Cheney, on the day of the insurrection, GOP lawmakers were urged to sign their names on electoral vote objection sheets, for the results of each state the party was attempting to block. According to Cheney, most people knew the whole thing “was a farce” and “another public display of fealty to Donald Trump,” and one congressman in particular underscored that sentiment. “Among [the group] was Republican Congressman Mark Green of Tennessee,” Cheney reportedly writes. “As he moved down the line, signing his name to the pieces of paper, Green said sheepishly to no one in particular, ‘The things we do for the Orange Jesus.’”

A spokesman for Green denied that he made that comment, saying to CNN, “Liz Cheney’s accusation is false. She and her publishers would know this had they reached out to Rep. Green or his office. There was a large crowd in the cloakroom that day, and Congressman Green unequivocally denies making this comment.”

George W. Bush also seemingly wanted Trump impeached

The 43rd president did not issue a public statement concerning Trump’s second impeachment. However, according to Cheney, he sent her a message of support following her vote, writing: “Liz, Courage is in short supply these days. Thank you for yours. You showed strong leadership, and I’m not surprised. Lead on. 43.”

Jim Jordan took a wrestling mentality to the effort to overturn the election

According to Cheney, her GOP colleague, who was an Ohio State wrestling coach before joining Congress, was “dismissive” of the legal process for opposing the 2020 election results and “didn’t seem to think the rules mattered,” allegedly telling her “The only thing that matters is winning.”

Kevin McCarthy reached heretofore unknown levels of hypocrisy

Per CNN:

Cheney reveals for the first time that McCarthy told her just two days after Election Day that he had talked to Trump and that Trump acknowledged he had lost the 2020 election. “He knows it’s over,” McCarthy said, according to the book. “He needs to go through all the stages of grief.” Cheney writes that she thought to herself, those stages of grief “seemed to involve tweeting in all caps.”

When the California Republican went on Fox News that same day and said, “President Trump won this election,” Cheney writes, “McCarthy knew that what he was saying was not true.”

A spokesperson for McCarthy told CNN: “For Cheney, first it was Trump Derangement Syndrome, and now apparently it’s also McCarthy Derangement Syndrome.”

Shout out to Mike Johnson

Cheney’s book was finished before Mike Johnson became House Speaker, but she presciently included details about his attempt, as a little-known congressman, to overturn the election, writing that when she “confronted him with the flaws in his legal arguments” for asking the Supreme Court to throw out four states’ results, he “would often concede, or say something to the effect of, ‘We just need to do this one last thing for Trump.’”

Cheney basically told Jordan to f–k off amidst the insurrection

As the House went into lockdown on January 6, “Jim Jordan approached me,” Cheney writes, saying, “We need to get the ladies off the aisle,” and, extending his hand, told her, “Let me help you.” To which Cheney responded “Get away from me. You f—ing did this.”

Jordan’s spokesman claims the interaction never happened.

McCarthy went to Mar-a-Lago to nurse Trump back to health like the ex-president was Beth March, suffering from scarlet fever circa 1869

Many people were viscerally repelled by the image of Kevin McCarthy showing up at Mar-a-Lago, three weeks after the insurrection, to kiss Trump’s ass. But new details provided by Cheney are somehow even more stomach-churning. Per CNN: