Pro-Trump lawyer Lin Wood’s bid to bring “chaos” to South Carolina’s GOP was halted on Saturday when he failed to unseat the party’s chairman after baselessly accusing the incumbent of voter fraud and a host of other slurs, Politico reports.

Dan Balz: “The removal of Cheney as chair of the House Republican Conference has been described as part of a Republican Party civil war, and certainly it reflects divisions within the party over Trump’s and raises questions about the future of the GOP.”

“But talking about the removal of Cheney from leadership in the context of a civil war understates the stakes involved. It is far more than a case of internecine warfare, as a Democrat who has been in many partisan battles against GOP candidates said in a private email praising Cheney.”

Said the Democrat: “As regards the politics of the moment, Cheney needs affirmation and a megaphone. She is preaching for principle — and that is important. This is so far above partisan nonsense. We must all understand what she is doing and applaud it.”

New York Times: “In the Biden era, wailing about cancel culture has emerged as a major tenet of Trumpism, a defining principle of a Republican Party far more focused on fighting culture wars than promoting any kind of policy platform.”

“Yet in recent weeks, it has been Republicans who seem most focused on canceling ideas they don’t like. And on Wednesday morning, the G.O.P. cancel mob came for Liz Cheney.”

Benjy Sarlin: “These moves helped bring millions of working-class independents and nonvoters into the Republican fold, and the party badly needs them to win. But Republicans are starting to realize how much the tradeoff has affected their traditional message.”

“An Economist/YouGov poll this month found that 71 percent of Republicans under 45 favored more government spending to create jobs, even if it required higher taxes. Among Republicans over 45, the numbers were almost perfectly reversed: 74 percent favored prioritizing lower taxes. The split between older voters who came of age under Ronald Reagan and younger voters defined by Trump reflects two different lived experiences as to what conservatism means.”

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) condemned his party’s downplaying of the Capitol riots on January 6 in an interview on The View.

Said Kinzinger: “When I saw my colleagues speak, you know, it feels like it’s in a 1984 — something you see out of North Korea, where it’s like ‘we’re just going to state whatever we want the reality to be.'”

He added: “I was there on Jan. 6. This was a real insurrection. This was an insurrection of people that thought they were doing Trump’s bidding at the behest of Trump. Not just on that day but in the days leading up to that, with the narrative of a stolen election.”

“I also want to thank President Trump for his support. He’s a critical part of our Republican team.”

— Rep. Elise Stefanik, after being elected as House GOP Conference Chair.

Playbook: “The day-to-day storylines in political media emphasize the divisions within the Republican Party and how those divisions weaken the GOP and help President Joe Biden push through his agenda. But if you step outside that narrative, you’ll see something very different.”

“While it might look like a shitshow in Washington, the party is more like a hurricane gathering strength off shore that will wallop Democrats beginning in 2022. The Republican Party has a structural advantage in the House, Senate and Electoral College. It controls redistricting in a majority of states. Most ominously for Democrats — and democracy — it is using its power in statehouses and governors’ mansions across the country to pass voting laws that solidify these advantages.”

Jeff Greenfield: “The pattern is striking, if you want to survive as a Republican official, you will support the former president; if you support the former president, you will support laws that reflect his conviction that the election was stolen; if you enact those rules, you are making it more possible that he will win a second term. The party is talking with one voice; the voice is Trump’s, and it’s one that plenty of Americans are still perfectly receptive to.”

David Leonhardt: “For Republicans, the question is whether they are willing to break with their own party, or at least criticize it honestly, to speak up for democracy. That’s not an easy thing to do. There are many Americans who believe in both democracy and a conservative agenda — less regulation, strict abortion laws, few gun restrictions, tight border security, strong support for police departments and churches. These Americans no longer have a comfortable partisan home.”

Jeff Greenfield: “As a body, that party has embraced notions about the political process that would have seemed the stuff of parody a decade ago. Donald Trump Jr. was right, in his speech to the crowd just before the Capitol insurrection: this is Trump’s Republican Party, and it’s perfectly united in that conviction.”

“To pretend otherwise—and to pretend that there’s an argument about what it stands for, or some kind of damaging fracture still ahead—is an act of delusion.”

Washington Post: “That ‘Biden is president’ line, though, is where many of Rep. Elise Stefanik’s peers have landed. It’s an almost platonic way of bridging Trumpland with the real world, stating an undeniable fact while sending a clear message to the base that you won’t let the Lamestream Media trip you up. At times, it’s delivered with a self-aware sense of just how clever an escape hatch it is.”

Just an hour after she was ousted from the House GOP leadership, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) sat down for an exclusive interview with Savannah Gutherie of NBC News.

Thanks to Kevin McCarthy, Cheney now has a national platform to say she’s chosen her country over the Republican party.

“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.”

— Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), quoted by NBC News, in a closed-door meeting of House Republicans.

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) was removed from her House GOP leadership post by a voice vote.

Washington Post: “The voice vote to remove her as chair of the House Republican Conference underscored that the party will not tolerate disagreements with Trump, whose active support many argue is needed for the party to win the House majority in the 2022 midterm elections.”

CNN: “Following her removal from House GOP leadership, Cheney tells reporters she will do everything she can to prevent Trump from returning to presidency.”

Ousting Cheney on a voice vote — so no one would have to go on the record — only makes Cheney’s martyrdom more heroic.

Washington Post: “Rather than focusing on whipping votes to save her job as conference chair, the Wyoming Republican this week has been drafting plans for increased travel and media appearances meant to drive home her case that Trump is unfit for a role in the Republican Party or as the nation’s leader were he to run in 2024.”

“She is also considering an expanded political operation that would allow her to endorse and financially support other Republican candidates who share her view of the danger that Trump poses to the Republican Party and the country.”

Axios: “Cheney will take her case to the public with speeches and other appearances. Cheney and her team has been intentional about painting the stakes as higher than a squabble about a leadership job, but instead about truth and the future of the Republican Party.”