The many ways Republicans have justified censuring Liz Cheney

3. Who are we to judge the RNC? Republican politicians love to accuse Democrats of moral relativism. But when they’re asked about shameful conduct by Trump or his party, these same Republicans shrink from judgment. On Sunday, Rep. Mike McCaul ducked three times when he was asked by Martha Raddatz of ABC News to weigh in on the censure. Eventually, McCaul pleaded: “You know, that’s—that was a—I’m not a member of the RNC. I wasn’t privy to the resolution.” Two days later, when House GOP Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik was asked at a briefing about the censure, she retreated to judgment-free liberalism, invoking rights—“the RNC has every right to take any action”—and declining to pass judgment.

4. Who are we to judge the propriety of overturning elections? Nikki Haley, Trump’s former ambassador to the United Nations, is one of her party’s most remorseless hypocrites. She routinely chides others for moral cowardice. But on Tuesday, when Fox News host Bret Baier asked her about the Trump-Pence dispute over blocking the electoral count, she refused to take sides. She distanced herself from Pence—conceivably a rival for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, if Trump doesn’t run—shrugging that he “did what he thought was right” and “was saying what he thought he needed to say.” But she implored Trump and Pence to “come together” to help the party regain power in 2022, and she cautioned: “I’m not a fan of Republicans going against Republicans, because the only ones that win when that happens are the Democrats and the media.” Saving the country from Democrats is too important, in Haley’s view, to fuss over preserving democracy.