Kevin McCarthy and Liz Cheney in awkward clash over Trump after top Republican claims ‘there is no civil war’

Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy had an awkward moment when they were both asked whether Donald Trump should be featured as a speaker at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

Mr McCarthy was quick to answer that he believed it was appropriate for Mr Trump to speak at the conference on Wednesday.

Immediately afterwards, Ms Cheney offered a completely opposite take on the matter.

"That's up to CPAC," Ms Cheney said. "I don't believe that he should be playing a role in the future of the party or the country."

The clash came just hours after Senator Rick Scott circulated a letter, which was obtained by Fox News, claiming the “Republican civil war is cancelled”.

“The long-running impeachment show is now over,” he wrote. “This political theatre should have been held at the other end of Washington in the Kennedy Center instead of the US Capitol. It was an unserious circus. It’s over. Now it’s time to look ahead.”

Ms Cheney was one of 10 Republicans in the House who voted to impeach Mr Trump. She was subsequently censured by the Wyoming Republican Party and was asked to resign.

Following that, Donald Trump Jr said he planned to campaign against Ms Cheney in the state, and Republican Senator Matt Gaetz, a staunch ally of Mr Trump, spoke at an anti-Cheney rally in Wyoming.

Ms Cheney is the third highest-ranking Republican in Congress.

Shortly after Ms Cheney made the comment, Mr McCarthy ended the press conference where comments took place.

"On that high note, thank y'all very much," he said.

Ms Cheney has consistently blamed Mr Trump for the insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January.

On Tuesday, Ms Cheney participated in a question-and-answer question session regarding foreign policy, and she said Mr Trump was responsible for "summoning the mob" and for "provoking them" to attack the Congress.

Later that day, Mr Trump's political adviser, Jason Miller, accused Ms Cheney of disloyalty to the party.

“If Liz Cheney spent half as much time attacking Democrats as she does attacking Republicans, we’d be in the majority already,” he said.

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