Wyoming‘s top Republican party-leader suggested secession might be an option after Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., voted alongside Democrats to impeach President Donald Trump.
The state GOP also moved to censure Cheney, who chairs the House GOP Conference and is the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney.
State GOP Chairman Frank Eathorne said Cheney does not represent the GOP’s beliefs or Wyoming’s values.
And if Cheney is the future of the Republican Party, he added, Wyoming might not want to stick around.
“We need to focus on the fundamentals that’s been stated in this broadcast, and that is what Wyoming is,” Eathorne told former White House adviser Steve Bannon in an episode of Bannon’s War Room Pandemic podcast.
“We are straight-talking, focused on the global scene, but we’re also focused at home, Eathorne continued. “Many of these Western states have the ability to be self-reliant, and we’re keeping eyes on Texas too and their consideration of possible secession. Now, they have a different state constitution than we do as far as wording, but it is something that we’re all paying attention to.”
Eathorne was referencing a recent initiative introduced by a few Texas Republicans that would have allowed Texans to vote on reestablishing the Lonestar State as an independent nation.
The bill, dubbed the Texas Independence Referendum Act, declared that the federal government “is out of control” and no longer “represents the values of Texans.”
Texas GOP Chairman Allen West also hinted at secession after the Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit from Texas challenging the election results in four key swing states.
“This decision will have far reaching ramifications for the future of our constitutional republic,” West’s statement read. “Perhaps law-abiding states should bond together and form a Union of states that will abide by the constitution.”
Wyoming Republicans have discussed the matter with the Texas GOP, according to Eathorne, but it “won’t come up again unless the grassroots brings it up,” he said.
However, the Wyoming GOP did take action against Cheney by passing the motion to censure her on Tuesday.
“There has not been a time during our tenure when we have seen this type of an outcry from our fellow Republicans, with the anger and frustration being palpable in the comments we have received,” the Wyoming GOP said in a statement.
“Our telephone has not stopped ringing, our email is filling up, and our website has seen more traffic than at any previous time,” it said. “The consensus is clear that those who are reaching out to the Party vehemently disagree with Representative Cheney’s decision and actions.”
