GOP's embrace of election lies is the 'most dangerous development' in US politics 'since 1860': Ex-GOP strategist

House Republicans might remove Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) from her leadership position over her refusal to stop criticizing former President Donald Trump, and one former Republican strategist thinks this would be yet another ominous development for the country.

Reacting to comments made by Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) about Cheney losing the confidence of her fellow Republicans during a Fox News interview, former Republican Stuart Stevens wrote on Twitter that the entire party seems to be making a belief in Trump's lies about the "stolen" 2020 election into a litmus test for their members.

"It's a requirement now of [the] Republican Party to assert we do not have a legally elected president and don't live in a democracy," Stevens wrote. "This is the most profound and dangerous development in American politics since 1860. We cannot look the other way. This is a clear and present threat."

Cheney this week has refused to back down from her criticisms of Trump and reportedly told her fellow Republicans that embracing Trump's false "stolen election" narrative is "a poison in the bloodstream of our democracy."