As Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) works for preserve her position within House GOP leadership, unlikely allies have rushed to her defense, including convicted felon O.J. Simpson.
In a video posted to Twitter on Monday Simpson, who was famously acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman in the mid-1990s before being convicted of armed robbery in the 2000s, said that Liz Cheney has earned his respect because she “stands up for truth.”
“I gotta admit, I was not a fan of Liz Cheney,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m 50-50 on her politics, but I didn’t like her. And then I just realized recently, the reason I didn’t like her had to do with her father, probably my least favorite politician of my adult life, former Vice President Dick Cheney.”
“Then I saw a show the other day and I saw a quote by Voltaire and it said that patriotism was the enemy of mankind,” Simpson said as he reflected upon how the quote made him to think about “the Republican Party.”
Notably, Simpson misquoted the philosopher who said, “It is lamentable that to be a good patriot, one must become the enemy of the rest of mankind.”
According to O.J., truth has become the “enemy” to many Republican politicians.
“It’s seems that that big truth and honesty, seems to be the enemy of many of these Republican politicians,” he said. “And Liz Cheney stands up for the truth, that’s got her a lot of heat. She may lose her position in the party, she may even lose her career as a politician, but that is something to be admired. Standing up for the truth, that’s something I know her father wouldn’t have done so, right now I’m kind of a fan of Liz Cheney.”
To dislike doesn’t mean to disrespect. pic.twitter.com/nOK2SuY5hx
— O.J. Simpson (@TheRealOJ32) May 10, 2021
The former football star, a.k.a. “The Juice,” fell from stardom when he stood credibly accused in the stabbing death of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman. A jury acquitted Simpson in the infamous criminal trial, later memorialized for a new generation in the FX miniseries, “The People vs. O.J. Simpson.”
The football player-turned-actor was later found civilly liable in a 1997 “wrongful death” case. To this day, he still owes the Goldman and Brown families an estimated $70 million in civil damages.
In 2007, Simpson was found guilty of an armed robbery and kidnapping in Las Vegas, Nevada. Simpson was sentenced to 30 years in prison with the possibility of parole in nine years. Eventually, the Nevada parole board ruled in Simpson’s favor, granting him early release.
Simpson has since joined social media and posts frequent commentary on political and cultural subjects.
As to Liz Cheney’s future in the Republican Party, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has endorsed replacing her as the House Republican Conference Chair. A vote is expected to happen later this week.