OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Civil rights attorney and frequent Fox News contributor Leo Terrell lambasted former Rep. Liz Cheney after the Wyoming Republican made disparaging remarks regarding Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential bid.
Earlier in the month, Cheney took to Twitter to complain after the former president said during a town hall he was “inclined” to “pardon” many of the Americans convicted of various criminal activities during the January 6 Capitol riot in 2021.
“Any candidate who says they will pardon Jan. 6 defendants is not qualified to be President,” Cheney, who took a sharp turn against Trump in the months leading up to his 2020 defeat, tweeted.
That led Terrell to respond: “You are not qualified to serve in Congress! That is why you lost by 60 percentage points!”
You are not qualified to serve in Congress! That is why you lost by 60 percentage points! https://t.co/K5iC1Rdfb6
— TheLeoTerrell (@TheLeoTerrell) May 25, 2023
During the CNN-hosted town hall, after being asked about pardoning the Jan. 6 offenders, Trump noted:
I am inclined to pardon many of them. I can’t say for every single one because a couple of them probably got out of control. But you know when you look at it, when you look at Antifa what they’ve done to Portland.
When you look at Antifa and what they’ve done to Minneapolis and so man other places. Look what they did to Seattle and BLM, many people were killed. I’m not trying to justify anything. But you have two standards of justice in this country …
And then what they’ve done to these people, they’ve persecuted these people. And yeah, my answer is, if I get in … it will be a large portion of… And what they’ve done to so many people is nothing. Nothing! And then what they’ve done to these people is they’ve persecuted these people. And yeah, my answer is, I will most likely if I get in, I will say most likely it will be a large portion of them.
(Audience Applause)
It will be very early on. And they’re living in hell. And they’re policemen and they’re firemen, and they’re soldiers, and they’re carpenters, and they’re electricians, and they’re great people. Many of them are just great people.
When she was soundly defeated last August in the GOP primary in her state of Wyoming, Cheney hinted that she was not done with politics despite losing badly to a Republican challenger who former President Donald Trump backed.
In the months since, there has been speculation — much of it fueled by her — that she would throw her hat in the ring to challenge Trump, who has always been and remains, the odds-on favorite to capture the party’s presidential nomination next year.
Earlier this month, the biggest hint yet that Cheney will run for the party’s nomination emerged in the form of a television ad targeting Trump in the early primary state of New Hampshire, NBC News reported.
The ad warns of a “risk” of a second Trump presidency, though by most measures, in comparison to President Joe Biden’s term, Trump’s was a resounding success in terms of Republican policy accomplishments.
“Donald Trump is a risk America can never take again,” Cheney says as she narrates the 60-second ad that was paid for by her organization, Great Task PAC.
Not surprisingly, the ad contains footage of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, in which Cheney says: “Donald Trump is the only president in American history who has refused to guarantee the peaceful transfer of power … There has never been a greater dereliction of duty by any president.”
The ad was set to air in New Hampshire, the first state to hold Republican primaries, coinciding with the former president’s televised town hall on CNN, which was held at Saint Anselm College, located just outside of Manchester, NBC News added.