Analysts shocked as Liz Cheney turns into liberal media darling: 'A head-snapping moment'

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Media top headlines May 6

Caitlyn Jenner telling Sean Hannity she would be 'tough' on riots and more round out today's top media headlines.

The media have noticeably taken Rep. Liz Cheney's, R-Wyo., side in her current battle with Republican colleagues who are seeking to oust her from her position as House Republican Conference chair following a series of critical comments about former President Donald Trump.

"She’s standing tall," CNN anchor Poppy Harlow said of Cheney on "CNN Newsroom" on Thursday. 

Harlow, her co-anchor Jim Sciutto, and their CNN panel lavished praise on Cheney, with POLITICO congressional reporter Melanie Zanona marveling that the congresswoman is now "on the verge of becoming a woman in exile in the GOP." But, Zanona said, Cheney "is doing what she believes is right for the country."

"They’re trying to silence her and tell her to shut up," Zanona later said of the Republicans, with Harlow nodding along and saying, "that's a great point."

Similarly, CNN political pundit Sophia Nelson penned a blunt USA Today piece entitled, ""Rep. Liz Cheney is courageous while Republican men are profiles in cowardice."

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And perhaps most notably, the Washington Post gave Cheney a platform to speak her mind and double down on her condemnation of Trump, accusing him of stoking the violence that occurred on Capitol Hill on January 6.

"While embracing or ignoring Trump’s statements might seem attractive to some for fundraising and political purposes, that approach will do profound long-term damage to our party and our country," Cheney wrote in her op-ed. "Trump has never expressed remorse or regret for the attack of Jan. 6 and now suggests that our elections, and our legal and constitutional system, cannot be trusted to do the will of the people." 

Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, who served in the George W. Bush administration and recalls very well how the media treated them back then, said he never thought he'd live to see the day when the press put a Cheney on a pedestal.

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Fox News host Howard Kurtz said the media's sudden admiration for Cheney is making his head spin as well.

Fox News contributor and The Hill's Joe Concha said he had a theory for the media's change of heart - one that has been proven a few times over the past few years.

"Liz Cheney is the newest ‘It Girl.' If you’re a Republican and go against your own party on X, Y, Z, you get the same love John McCain and Mitt Romney and Adam Kinzinger received when they did same as useful ‘It Guys’ at various times.," Concha told Fox News. "Kinda ironic when you think about the fact that the media patently loathed Dick Cheney when he was George W. Bush’s vice president. But this is just how it works." 

Rep. Cheney was more than just critical of Trump after the Capitol riot - she was also one of 10 House Republicans to vote to impeach the president for "incitement of insurrection." Amid the calls for her removal as the No. 3 Republican in the House, Cheney warned the Party that they need to be wary of listening to the "Trump cult of personality."

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Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio recently told Fox News that the votes are there to remove Cheney from her leadership position next week.

"I can't imagine that they will continue to support her in that leadership position," former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows agreed.

Republicans are eyeing Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-NY, as Cheney's replacement. She has already received Trump's endorsement.

Of the GOP's favored candidate, CNN pundits suggested that the Republicans are only choosing Stefanik because they need another female lawmaker to save face for ousting Cheney.