(CNN)Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney cast the Republican Party as "threatened by fealty to an individual" -- former President Donald Trump -- and defended her work on the committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection during a debate with her four GOP primary challengers Thursday night.
"There's a real tragedy that's occurring, and the tragedy is there are politicians in this country, beginning with Donald Trump, who have lied to the American people. People have been betrayed. He has consistently said the election is stolen when it wasn't," Cheney said in the debate broadcast by Wyoming PBS ahead of the August 16 primary.
She added: "We are now embracing a cult of personality. I won't be part of that, and I will always stand for my oath and stand for the truth."
Cheney is set to face the Trump-endorsed Harriet Hageman, a former Republican national committeewoman from Wyoming, and three other Republicans in the primary for the state's only US House seat. Her rivals have attacked Cheney over her role as one of two Republicans on the House panel investigating the US Capitol riot, and have dismissed that probe's importance.
Cheney went on the attack early in the debate, pointing out that Hageman's campaign had hired the consulting firm of Bill Stepien, Trump's former campaign manager. Stepien, Cheney noted, had told the committee he was happy to be part of "team normal" in the wake of Trump's loss in the 2020 election, as Trump and some of his allies began spreading lies...
Misinformation about hantavirus has run rampant on social media, with online users reviving viral COVID-19 theories to spread fake news about the outbreak. From conspiracy theories claiming that...