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- Donald Trump announced his intention to redefine the phrase "the Big Lie," which has been used for months to describe his election lies.
- Rep. Liz Cheney on Monday became a lone voice pushing back on Trump's attempt to repurpose the phrase.
- "The 2020 presidential election was not stolen," Cheney tweeted. "Anyone who claims it was is spreading THE BIG LIE."
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Former President Donald Trump on Monday announced his intention to redefine the phrase "the Big Lie," which Democrats have used for several months to describe Republican misinformation about the 2020 election.
In a press release emailed out to supporters, Trump declared, "The Fraudulent Presidential Election of 2020 will be, from this day forth, known as THE BIG LIE!"
Rep. Liz Cheney, the third-highest ranking House Republican, became a lone voice pushing back on Trump's attempt to repurpose the phrase, saying his continued lies about the election were "poisoning our democratic system."
"The 2020 presidential election was not stolen," Cheney tweeted on Monday morning. "Anyone who claims it was is spreading THE BIG LIE, turning their back on the rule of law, and poisoning our democratic system."
Cheney, the most powerful female GOP lawmaker in the House, has become vocally anti-Trump, a position she cemented after voting to impeach Trump for inciting the deadly January 6 Capitol riot. As a result, many members of her own party, including the ex-president, have launched a campaign against her. Despite surviving a February caucus vote to remove her from leadership, her position in the party is reportedly at risk.
Monday's move isn't a new one from Trump. He's previously successfully redefined certain phrases he views as politically threatening and weaponized them against his opponents. Most notably, he successfully appropriated the term "fake news" - which was originally used to describe false, largely right-wing reports - to refer to any media reports he disliked and as a broad description of the mainstream press.
Trump and his right-wing allies have for months pushed the lie that the 2020 election was "stolen" from Trump and "rigged" by Democrats through widespread illegal voting and other means. And they've been successful in their misinformation campaign. About 55% of GOP voters believe Trump lost the 2020 election because of voter fraud and election rigging, according to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll.