GOP Rep. Mike Kelly said Liz Cheney’s criticism of Trump was like seeing ‘your girlfriend on the opposition’s side’ during a sports game

• Rep. Mike Kelly had an unwelcome analogy for Rep. Liz Cheney during a tense GOP conference meeting on February 3, 2021.
• He said her response to January 6 was like seeing "your girlfriend on the opposition's side' during a sports game."

Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania made an unwelcome sports analogy about Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming during a tense GOP conference meeting on February 3, 2021 as conservative Republicans attacked her for voting to impeach former President Donald Trump.

Watching Cheney's response to the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol was like playing a rival team "and you look up in the stands and see your girlfriend on the opposition's side," the former Pennsylvania car dealer told his colleagues, according to the forthcoming book "This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future."

"She's not your girlfriend," another female lawmaker replied.

"Yeah," Cheney shot back. "I'm not your girlfriend."

A spokesperson for Kelly confirmed the lawmaker's comments to Insider.

"As a former college football player and later a football coach, Rep. Kelly often draws comparisons to sports," spokesman Matt Knoedler said in a statement. "He sees the Republican Conference as a team and the reported exchange reflects that. Rep. Kelly repeatedly expressed concerns with Rep. Cheney's role as Conference Chair after January 6th."

The exchange detailed by authors Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns was part of a heated debate over whether Cheney should retain her leadership post as the No. 3 House Republican after she and 9 other GOP colleagues voted to impeach Trump for "incitement of insurrection."

House Republicans voted on a secret ballot to keep Cheney as House Republican Conference chair on that day, but ousted her in May 2021 after she repeatedly pushed back against Trump's claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

She and Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, are now the only House Republicans serving on the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the US Capitol.

During the February 3, 2021 conference meeting, Cheney appealed to Republicans to be "worthy of the mantle of Abraham Lincoln," while conservative Republican Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona accused her of giving "aid and comfort" to Democrats," according to the book.

"Capturing the mind-set of apocalyptic battle on the right, Biggs argued that Democrats 'are not just an opponent. They're an adversary that's trying to wipe this country out and change it forever,'" the authors wrote.

A spokesman for Cheney did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.