Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, Donald Trump’s fiercest Republican opponent in Congress, was defeated in a Republican primary on Tuesday, falling to a challenger backed by the former US president in a contest that has strengthened the Trump’s control over the party base.
The third-term congresswoman and her allies entered the day depressed about her prospects, aware that Trump’s endorsement gave Harriet Hageman a sizable boost in the state she won by the largest margin during the 2020 campaign. Cheney was already looking toward a political future beyond Capitol Hill that could include a presidential run in 2024, which could put her on another collision course with Trump.
Cheney described his loss as the start of a new chapter in his political career as he addressed a small collection of supporters, including his father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, on the sidelines of a vast field flanked by mountains and hay bales.
“Our work is far from over,” he said Tuesday evening. Hinting at a presidential proposal of his own, he later added: “I’ve said since January 6th that I’m going to do whatever it takes to make sure that Donald Trump is never anywhere near the Oval Office again, and I mean it.” .
Nearly 600 miles to the east, Hageman’s festive supporters gathered at an outdoor rodeo and western culture festival in Cheyenne, many wearing cowboy boots, hats and blue jeans.
The results were a powerful reminder of the Republican party’s rapid shift to the right. A party once dominated by national security-oriented, pro-business conservatives like his father now belongs to Trump, buoyed by his populist appeal and, above all, his denial of defeat in the 2020 election.
Echoing Trump, Hageman, a cattle industry attorney, falsely claimed the 2020 election was “threatened” while courting Trump loyalists.
Republican congressional candidate Harriet Hageman reacts during her primary election night party in Cheyenne, Wyo., Tuesday night. (Eli Imadali/Reuters)
Those lies, which have been roundly rejected by federal and state election officials along with Trump’s own attorney general and the judges he appointed, transformed Cheney from an occasional critic of the former president to the clearest voice within the party that warned that it represents a threat to democracy. rules.
“We are facing a time when our democracy is really under attack and under threat,” Cheney told CBS News earlier Tuesday.
“And those of us in general – Republicans, Democrats and independents who believe deeply in freedom and who care about the Constitution and the future of the country – have an obligation to put this party first.”
He voted to impeach Trump
Cheney’s defeat would have been unthinkable just two years ago. The daughter of a former vice president, she comes from one of Wyoming’s most prominent political families. And in Washington, she was the No. 3 Republican in the House, an influential voice in Republican politics and policy with an excellent conservative voting record.
But after the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters, Cheney voted to impeach Trump and made it his primary mission to ensure that he never more to serve in the oval office again. He overcame Republican censures and death threats to serve as the leader of the congressional panel investigating Trump’s role in the insurgency.
After the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters, Cheney voted to impeach Trump and made it his primary mission to ensure that he would never serve in the oval office again. (Jae C. Hong/The Associated Press)
Cheney will be forced to leave Congress at the end of her third and final term in January. He is not expected to leave Capitol Hill quietly.
He will continue in his leadership role on the congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 attack until it disbands later this year. And she is actively considering a run for the White House in 2024, either as a Republican or an independent, after vowing to do everything in her power to fight Trump’s influence in her party.