Former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., delivers the graduation tackle at Colorado College on Sunday in Colorado Springs, Colo. She urged the 2023 graduates to not compromise on the reality.

Jack Dempsey/AP

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Former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., delivers the graduation tackle at Colorado College on Sunday in Colorado Springs, Colo. She urged the 2023 graduates to not compromise on the reality.

Jack Dempsey/AP

Former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney warned graduates of Colorado College that political dissent and freedoms can not exist with out steady democratic programs in America.

“We are living in a time of testing and challenge and peril for our democracy,” Cheney, a 1988 graduate of Colorado College, stated.

Cheney, a Republican who lost re-election to her Wyoming House seat final 12 months, spoke in regards to the Jan. 6 riot and repeated her previous criticisms of former President Donald Trump. But she didn’t touch upon her personal political future, together with a possible 2024 run for president.

“After the 2020 election and the attack of January 6th, my fellow Republicans wanted me to lie. They wanted me to say the 2020 election was stolen, the attack of January 6th wasn’t a big deal, and Donald Trump wasn’t dangerous,” Cheney stated Sunday in Colorado Springs, Colo. “I had to choose between lying and losing my position in House leadership.”

Cheney emphasised the message of talking fact, noting a Bible verse that was inscribed on a campus constructing that learn: “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”

“America cannot remain a free nation if we abandon the truth. So as you go out to change the world, resolve that you will stand in truth,” she advised the 2023 graduates.

She additionally urged them to stay politically energetic, and defend establishments of democracy. Cheney cited a current report from The Washington Post that spotlighted a current audio recording of Cleta Mitchell, a former Trump adviser. Mitchell, whereas presenting at a Republican National Committee retreat, stated that the benefit of voting on faculty campus polling areas posed an issue.

“Those who are trying to unravel the foundations of our republic, who are threatening the rule of law and the sanctity of our elections, know that they can’t succeed if you vote,” Cheney stated. “So class of 2023, get out and vote.”

Students flip their chairs away from Wyoming Republican Liz Cheney, as she delivers the graduation tackle at Colorado College.

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Students flip their chairs away from Wyoming Republican Liz Cheney, as she delivers the graduation tackle at Colorado College.

Jack Dempsey/AP

While Cheney’s introduction to the stage was principally met with applause, many graduates on the liberal arts faculty selected to protest her remarks by turning their chairs round throughout the speech. The Gazette, the native newspaper in Colorado Springs, reported that about half of the 450 graduates selected to show their backs to Cheney.

Cheney’s husband and two of their kids are additionally graduates of the varsity.