What Liz Cheney told House Republicans before her ouster from leadership

Context: Before her ouster, Cheney faced strong backlash from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and other prominent Republicans for criticizing Trump over his baseless claims of election fraud and for voting to impeach him for inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

What she's saying: "Our nation needs this Republican Party as a strong party based on truth so we can shape the future," Cheney said.

• "To do that, we must be true to our principles and to the constitution. We cannot let the former president drag us backward and make us complicit in his efforts to unravel our democracy. Down that path lies our destruction, and potentially the destruction of our country," she continued, referring to Trump.
• "If you want leaders who will enable and spread his destructive lies, I’m not your person, you have plenty of others to choose from. That will be their legacy."

"But I promise you this, after today, I will be leading the fight to restore our party and our nation to conservative principles, to defeating socialism, to defending our republic, to making the GOP worthy again of being the party of Lincoln."

Go deeper:

• House Republicans vote to remove Liz Cheney from leadership
• Liz Cheney's game plan
• Swing-voter focus group: Ousting Cheney is a mistake