Former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney said Sunday that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is “unfit for office” because of comments he’s made about January 6 defendants.
Cheney joined Margaret Brennan on this week’s Face the Nation on CBS and talked about Donald Trump and Rep. Elise Stefanik before the conversation about January 6 was expanded to included 2024 GOP presidential candidates.
After Cheney slammed Speaker Mike Johnson to start, she called it “disgusting” and “outrageous” that Trump and Stefanik are using the term “hostage” to refer to imprisoned rioters. Brennan then brought up 2024 candidates and DeSantis specifically.
“We have other Republican candidates for president like Ron DeSantis who have said they are open to reviewing the cases against these defendants and considering pardons for them,” she prompted.
DeSantis last year said that his administration would review “weaponization” of government and making determinations on “a case-by-case basis” about whether to use pardon power, after he was asked about January 6 defendants on a conservative podcast. The remarks drew major ire from the left at the time.
On Sunday, Cheney replied voters should consider such remarks “very important” in deciding their vote in 2024.
“The notion that the Republican Party would continue its efforts to whitewash that day, when the peaceful transition of power is at the core of the survival of our republic,” she said, pausing in her response that was specifically about DeSantis before pointedly adding, “tells you that they’re unfit for office.”
DeSantis was the next guest on with Brennan on Sunday but the two did not discuss January 6 or the remarks by Cheney in the interview, which focused on immigration and the upcoming Iowa Caucus vote.
BRENNAN: We have other Republican candidates for president like Ron DeSantis who have said they are open to reviewing the cases against these defendants and considering pardons for them.
CHENEY: Look, the president has – has pardon power and pardon authority.
I think that it’s a very important piece that people ought to consider when they’re thinking about for whom they’re going to vote. Someone who says that they would pardon individuals who assaulted the Capitol, who attempted to stop a constitutional process, who assaulted police officers – I mean, it was a bloody battle.
I had police officers, one, tell me that it was – it was like medieval hand-to-hand combat. The notion that the Republican Party would continue its efforts to whitewash that day, when the peaceful transition of power is at the core of the survival of our republic…
BRENNAN: Yes.
CHENEY: … tells you that they’re unfit for office.
Watch the clip above via Face the Nation on CBS.
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