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Maryland GOP Gov. Larry Hogan Says Republicans Ousting Rep. Liz Cheney 'Was a Mistake'

Chip Somodevilla/Getty; Sarah Silbiger/Getty From left: Gov. Larry Hogan and Rep. Liz Cheney

Add Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan to the list of Republican officials who are upset over their party voting Rep. Liz Cheney out of her leadership position last week.

"I think it was a mistake," Hogan, 64, told CNN's State of the Union on Sunday. "Liz Cheney is a solid conservative Republican who voted with [President Donald Trump] 93 percent of the time. I thought she just stood up and told the truth and said exactly what she thought."

Cheney, 54, was removed from the House Republicans' No. 3-ranking leadership role last week after she publicly rebuked Trump, 74, for his false claims that the 2020 election was somehow "rigged" because he lost.

Cheney, a Wyoming representative and the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump over his role in the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol building.

A majority of Republicans, led by Trump, have turned on Cheney in recent months over the vote and her public statements about the former president's baseless conspiracy theories.

"I won't let a former president or anyone else unravel the democracy — whatever it takes," Cheney told Today last week.

Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Rep. Liz Cheney

Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post via Getty Images Gov. Larry Hogan

Not all Republicans have turned against Cheney for her criticism against Trump, as evidenced by Hogan's comments Sunday.

"To ostracize somebody or remove them from their leadership position, it's crazy," Hogan said. "I mean, it's kind of doubling down on failure: We've lost the White House, the House, the Senate over the past four years, and to continue to do the exact same thing and expect a different result is the definition of insanity."

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Other Republicans also came to Cheney's defense after last week's vote.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, another Republican who voted to impeach Trump in January, likened the GOP's overwhelming allegiance to the former president to the unwavering support given to dictators, such as North Korea's Kim Jong-un.

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"To any Republican that's maybe confused by the moment we're in is: Policy doesn't matter anymore. It literally is all your loyalty to Donald Trump," Kinzinger, 43, told NBC's Meet the Press.

"As I said before, this is something that echoes a little bit out of North Korea where, no matter what policy comes out, you're loyal to the guy," he added.

Cheney was replaced in her leadership role last week by Rep. Elise Stefanik, a loyal Trump ally.