- GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy in Poland said Ukrainians' right to defend democracy has to be ensured.
- In an interview with CNN, GOP Rep. Liz Cheney said McCarthy has not upheld democracy domestically.
- Cheney said McCarthy has "failed to put his oath to the Constitution ahead of his own personal political gains."
GOP Rep. Liz Cheney on Sunday said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has put his own political ambitions first and failed to defend democracy.
Cheney, the vice-chair of the House panel investigating the Capitol riot, told CNN's Jake Tapper in an interview that McCarthy, "failed to put his oath to the Constitution ahead of his own personal political gains."
The congresswoman was responding to a recent statement McCarthy made while leading a bipartisan delegation of lawmakers to Poland in support of Ukraine's democracy.
"The whole world is watching what's unfolding in Ukraine," McCarthy said. "We see the atrocities being committed by Vladimir Putin, and more importantly, we see the bravery of the Ukrainian people. We are here—as representatives of the United States—to ensure we are doing what is right to support Ukrainians as they defend themselves and their democracy."
Tapper asked Cheney, one of just two Republicans on the House January 6 committee, if there was "any disconnect," between McCarthy's statement on the conflict aboard and his actions domestically.
"What I would say is that what's happening today in Ukraine is a reminder that democracy is fragile, that democracy must be defended, and that each one of us in a position to do so has an obligation to do so," Cheney replied, adding that McCarthy as a lawmaker has failed to do so.
McCarthy has previously refused to assist the January 6 committee's investigation into whether or not former President Donald Trump was responsible for the Capitol riot.
While he initially said Trump was responsible for the attack in a House-floor speech a week after the riot, he later defended efforts to overturn the election.
McCarthy has also declined to support Cheney and Rep. Adam Kinzinger after the Republican National Committee voted to move ahead with censure efforts. The two serve on the January 6 committee and were among a handful of Republicans who voted in favor of impeaching Trump. McCarthy endorsed Harriet Hageman, a right-wing candidate running in the GOP primary against Cheney.
"At the end of the day, each one of us is responsible for our own actions and activity. But, if we don't stand for our Constitution, if we don't stand for democracy, if we don't stand for freedom, if we forget that our oath to our Constitution is an oath to a document, it's not an oath to an individual, we have got to always remember that, or our democracy is in peril," Cheney told Tapper.