Liz Cheney thanks Gen. Milley for 'standing in the breach' while calling out fellow Republicans for not challenging Trump

• Rep. Liz Cheney called out fellow Republicans for not standing up to Trump while thanking Gen. Milley for doing so.
• Cheney lambasted Republicans for questioning Milley's loyalty.
• The Wyoming Republican also chastised Republicans over the January 6 insurrection.

GOP Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming on Wednesday lambasted fellow Republicans over their recent attacks on Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Addressing Milley during a House Armed Services Committee regarding Afghanistan, Cheney called out Republicans for whitewashing the deadly January 6 insurrection and enabling former President Donald Trump's lies about the 2020 election. Cheney excoriated Republicans who've questioned Milley's loyalty.

"General Milley you found yourself in your constitutionally prescribed role, standing in the breach. And for any member of this committee for any American to question your loyalty to our nation to question your understanding of our Constitution, your loyalty to our Constitution, your recognition and understanding of the civilian chain of command is despicable," Cheney said.

"I want to thank you for standing in the breach, when so many, including many in this room, fail to do so," she added.

Cheney has been ostracized by the GOP for not embracing Trump's false claim that the election was stolen from him. In May, Republicans ousted Cheney from her leadership post as conference chair.

Along these lines, Cheney and Milley are in many ways in the same boat in terms of facing an onslaught of attacks from Trump and his allies.

Milley, who became the top US general during the Trump administration and continues to serve in that role under President Joe Biden, has been heavily cited in a number of recent tell-all books on the Trump era. This has prompted rampant criticism among GOP lawmakers, given these books don't paint Trump in a particularly flattering light.

Republicans have been particularly irate over conversations Milley had with his Chinese counterparts during Trump's final days in the White House, which were detailed in Bob Woodward and Robert Costa's new book, "Peril." Milley at the time sought to assure the Chinese that Trump - who became increasingly erratic after the election - would not spark a war on his way out of office.

A number of Republicans have called on Milley to resign during hearings on Afghanistan this week. Meanwhile, Milley has fervently defended his conversations with the Chinese, saying that he believed he was "faithfully executing the intent of the president ... because I knew with certainty that President Trump was not going to attack the Chinese just out of the blue."