Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) slammed former President Donald Trump on Tuesday for his racist reference to Elaine Chao and his violent rhetoric directed at her husband, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
In a post last Friday on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump referred to Chao as McConnell’s “China loving wife, Coco Chow!” and wrote that McConnell “has a DEATH WISH” because he supported Democratic-sponsored legislation.
Trump “could well cause violence against the Republican leader of the Senate,” Cheney said at a Syracuse University event, adding that his comments about Chao constitute a “despicable, racist attack.”
Chao, who is Taiwanese American, served as the former president’s transportation secretary but resigned in response to the Trump-fueled riot at the U.S. Capitol last year.
Cheney, the vice chairwoman of the House select committee investigating the attack on the Capitol, lost her primary in August. She criticized Republican Party leaders for not speaking out against Trump’s latest remarks.
“Then you watch the fact that nobody in my party will say that’s unacceptable,” she lamented, referencing Republican Florida Sen. Rick Scott’s refusal to condemn Trump’s language.
“The president likes to give people nicknames,” Scott, who serves as the chair of the Senate Republicans, said on CNN’s “State of the Union” Monday night when asked about what Trump said.
Chao and McConnell have not commented on Trump’s remarks. In the past, McConnell has refused to react to similar incidents, simply saying “No” in August when a reporter asked if he had a response to Trump calling his wife “crazy.”
