Liz Cheney says new Speaker Mike Johnson is a 'dangerous' person to lead the House

WASHINGTON−Former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., called new House Speaker Mike Johnson "dangerous" because he supported overturning the results of the 2020 election.

Cheney, who was one of the most vocal critics of former President Donald Trump during her last years in Congress, said Johnson "says that he's committed to defending the Constitution," but that he failed to do so in the wake of the last presidential election.

"He was willing to set aside what he knew to be the rulings of the courts, the requirements of the Constitution, in order to placate Donald Trump," she told University of Virginia Center for Politics director Larry Sabato on the "Politics is Everything" podcast Wednesday. "So it’s a concerning moment to have him be elected speaker of the House."

Following the 2020 presidential election, the new Republican speaker from Louisiana penned an amicus brief in support of overturning the results in four states over false allegations of widespread fraud. He successfully rallied more than 100 of his fellow Republicans to sign on, though the Supreme Court eventually rejected the lawsuit.

"He was acting in ways that he knew to be wrong," she said. "I think that the country unfortunately will come to see the measure of his character."

A spokesperson for Johnson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Cheney was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump after his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6, 2021 and became vice chairwoman on the panel investigating the attack. She was defeated in the 2022 midterm primary elections by Trump-endorsed Rep. Harriet Hageman.

Johnson was elected to lead the House last week after 21 long days without a speaker. He was the fifth-ranking House Republican, and his ascension to the top post came over the course of just one day after three proposed picks failed or pulled out of consideration.

The House will once again have to certify the results of the 2024 presidential election, though Congress passed a law in 2022 that would make it harder to overturn the results, requiring one-fifth of each chamber to bring a vote on a state's electors and other changes.

A reporter asked Johnson about his efforts to overturn the election shortly after he was nominated for the speakership, only to be met with a chorus of boos from Republican members and a simple "next question" from the new speaker.

This article originally appeared on Aberdeen News: Liz Cheney says Mike Johnson is a 'dangerous' person to lead the House