Wyoming’s Liz Cheney backs U.S. Rep. Rice in fundraising email. Both are Trump targets

U.S. Rep. Tom Rice has won the backing of vocal Trump critic and former House Republican Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney in his bid for re-election in South Carolina’s 7th District.

Cheney, of Wyoming, is one of two Republicans serving on the House’s select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and has frequently commended Rice for his vote to impeach Trump following the violence.

“Tom Rice is the type of conservative who looks past what’s in his immediate self-interest and focuses on what is in the country’s best interest,” Cheney said in March 29 fundraiser email. “He joined me in voting to hold Trump accountable after the January 6th attack, and that’s made him a target of those who would rather support Trump than our Constitution.”

Cheney’s email to supporters included links to donate to Rice’s campaign.

“South Carolina has sent many strong leaders to Washington, D.C., but few of them have moral courage like Tom Rice,” Cheney continued in her email. “Tom Rice is that real leader, and I humbly ask you to support him.”

Cheney and Rice have become two of Trump’s biggest targets. The former president ridiculed both of them at a March 12 rally in Florence, S.C., where he endorsed state Rep. Russell Fry, a Surfside Beach attorney looking to beat Rice in the June 14 primary.

Rice has represented the state’s 7th Congressional District since 2011 and has pointed to his 94% record of support for Trump-era policies to counter accusations that he’s not a genuine conservative.

Fry used Cheney’s announcement to paint Rice as a Washington insider who has enabled reckless spending.

“This is a prime example of what’s wrong in Washington. For Tom Rice and Liz Cheney, “courage” means winking and nodding at the Democrats as the national debt surges past $30 trillion,” he said on Twitter on Wednesday.

This story was originally published March 30, 2022 at 12:00 AM.