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Fact check: Did Liz Cheney write a letter starting with "Donald, this is not the Soviet Union. You can't change the truth and you can't silence us."
1. Summary of the results
The claim that Liz Cheney wrote the letter is false. Multiple sources consistently confirm that the letter was actually written by a Facebook user named "Pru Pru" (Dr. Pru Lee) in a Facebook group called "Liz Cheney/Adam Kinzinger Against Trump" [1] [2]. While there is one contradictory source claiming Cheney did write the quote [3], this is overwhelmingly outweighed by multiple fact-checking organizations, including Lead Stories and Snopes, which have verified that Cheney was not the author [1].
2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints
Several important contextual elements were missing from the original statement:
- The letter first appeared on April 15 in a specific Facebook group [2]
- Liz Cheney's actual social media presence is significantly larger than claimed in the letter - she has over 700,000 followers across platforms, while the letter writer claimed to have only 6,000 [4]
- While Cheney has indeed taken political stances against Trump [4], this particular letter is not part of her documented opposition [4]
- The letter cannot be found on any of Cheney's official social media accounts, including Facebook, X, Instagram, and Threads [2]
3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement
This appears to be a case of deliberate misattribution that benefits multiple parties:
- Anti-Trump groups benefit from attributing strong statements to prominent Republican critics like Cheney, as it lends more credibility to their position
- The actual author, Dr. Pru Lee, potentially benefits from the viral spread of their content when misattributed to a more prominent figure
- The confusion is amplified by the fact that the content aligns with Cheney's known political stance against Trump [4], making it seem plausible to casual readers
The spread of this misinformation is particularly concerning because it was shared in a Facebook group specifically focused on Cheney and Kinzinger's opposition to Trump [2], giving it an appearance of authenticity despite being false.