Kevin McCarthy Ripped For Absolutely Orwellian Line In His Liz Cheney Letter

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) announced Monday that he was leading an effort to boot Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) from her GOP leadership post.

Cheney is on the outs because she has refused to endorse former President Donald Trump’s “big lie” about the 2020 election being “stolen” and has blamed him for the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol that was carried out by his supporters.

That makes one line in McCarthy’s letter to his Republican conference stand out:

“We are a big tent party. We represent Americans of all backgrounds and continue to grow our movement by the day. And unlike the left, we embrace free thought and debate.”

Given that the letter is announcing his decision to hold a vote that is likely to eject a member from party leadership for her “free thought and debate,” many on social media found the statement more than a little ironic, if not positively Orwellian:

Nothing says you "embrace free thought and debate" like expelling the people who disagree with you https://t.co/k7hiCWFTyZ

— Rep. Don Beyer (@RepDonBeyer) May 10, 2021

“And unlike the left, we embrace free thought and debate.”

George Orwell! thou shouldst be living at this hour... pic.twitter.com/JrUI7EGqj4

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) May 10, 2021

"Unlike the left, we embrace free thought and debate," McCarthy says in a letter explaining why the party has to purge a member of the leadership team for too much free thought and debate. https://t.co/F30ndfVxoa

— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) May 10, 2021

Kevin McCarthy, in writing to his colleagues and urging them to remove Liz Cheney as conference chair, claims that Republicans "are a big tent party" and that "unlike the left, we embrace free thought and debate." He is not being ironic.

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 10, 2021

This @GOPLeader letter is out-of-touch, unhinged and Orwellian. What a complete failure of a leader and a human being. pic.twitter.com/Adfmo6Xkc5

— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch) May 10, 2021

McCarthy on recalling @Liz_Cheney for criticizing Trump: "we need to make a change."

Same letter:
"we embrace free thought and debate" https://t.co/Cm9J2Wdztf

— amna (@IAmAmnaNawaz) May 10, 2021

"We embrace free thought and debate, but we kick out anyone who doesn't say exactly what we want."

I thought cancel culture was bad.

— 🇺🇲 Legion of Resisters 🇺🇲 (@CPLegion2108) May 10, 2021

I think most Americans have read George Orwell & are no longer fooled by McCarthy’s war is peace, slavery is freedom doublespeak. 😢 https://t.co/2hCUK8RiNA

— John Creighton 🇺🇸 (@jwcreighton3) May 10, 2021

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy says of the GOP days before he pushes out Liz Cheney for daring to criticize Trump: “We are a big tent party — and unlike the left, we embrace free thought and debate.”

— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) May 10, 2021

This is Orwellian doublespeak, isn't it? https://t.co/8TabWdDMf9

— Maximum MEW (@maximum_mew) May 11, 2021

Orwellian https://t.co/Wq8Q5SgoYA

— Michael Hale (@mthsr1) May 10, 2021

We embrace free thought and debate but we need to cut a member of our leadership team for free thought and debate. https://t.co/XeaZhG3ns4 pic.twitter.com/702Iv0rz9n

— Bill Sachman (@BillSachman) May 10, 2021

“Unlike the left, we embrace free thought and debate*”

*unless you admit the election was legit, call Biden ‘Mr. President,” or say anything negative about Velveeta Voldemort, then we remove you from leadership positions

Fixed your letter, you sniveling sycophant @GOPLeader https://t.co/gQdVJGQMp7

— Angry Staffer (@Angry_Staffer) May 10, 2021

Kevin "Free Thought" McCarthy is literally cancelling Liz Cheney for having free thought. https://t.co/UO3uGFYo7Z

— Brian Ray (@brianrayguitar) May 10, 2021

Kevin McCarthy.....While ousting Liz Cheney "Unlike the left, we embrace free thought & debate.” pic.twitter.com/AZDXLQIOXc

— Queen Of My Castle👑 #Resist 💙 (@VoteOutHate20) May 11, 2021

Wow that’s just brazen - they really have doubled down on the lies, which is hardly surprising for a party without a platform.

The GOP is a cult whose only article of faith is the Gospel of Trump.

Liz Cheney is being cancelled for heresy and the thought crime of truth.

— HRH Rowannicus Rex (@rowan007) May 11, 2021

They embrace free thought and debate? Sort of like they embrace the truth? pic.twitter.com/nn7Bl2TWoM

— Khashoggi’s Ghost (@UROCKlive1) May 10, 2021

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.