Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney is considering a 2024 presidential campaign after losing her Republican primary soundly to her Trump-backed challenger.
In an interview in the wake of her loss, the congresswoman who was seeking her fourth term called Trump “a very grave threat and risk to our republic” and said that her goal of defeating him would require “a broad and united front of Republicans, Democrats, and independents — and that’s what I intend to be part of.”
Cheney declined to confirm if she would run for president but acknowledged it’s “something that I’m thinking about.”
The primary results proved a powerful reminder of the GOP’s swift shift to the right. Cheney’s margin of defeat was 35 points. The party was once dominated by business-friendly, security-oriented conservatives, like former President Dick Cheney, the congresswoman’s father. However, it now primarily belongs to former President Trump, who has garnered populist appeal.
“I have said since January 6 that I will do whatever it takes to ensure Donald Trump is never again anywhere near the Oval Office — and I mean it,” said Cheney during her concession speech.
The congresswoman described her primary loss as starting a new chapter in her political career. “Our work is far from over,” she said while evoking President Abraham Lincoln, who lost congressional elections before ultimately being elected to the presidency, where he preserved the union.
Trump, supporters celebrate Cheney’s defeat
Trump and his supporters celebrated Cheney’s loss, calling the results “a complete rebuke” of the January 6 committee. “Liz Cheney should be ashamed of herself, the way she acted, and her spiteful, sanctimonious words and actions towards others,” Trump wrote on his social media platform. “Now she can finally disappear into the depths of political oblivion where I am sure she will be much happier than she is right now. Thank you, WYOMING!”
Cheney’s defeat would have been unfathomable only two years ago. She was the No. 3 House Republican with a solidly conservative voting record and an influential voice in GOP policy and politics.
The congresswoman will be evicted from Congress at the end of her third term in January. However, she is not expected to leave the Capitol quietly. Cheney will continue her role in leadership on the January 6 attack congressional panel until it is dissolved and the end of the year.
Legislators who voted for Trump’s impeachment are quickly going extinct. Ten Republican House members and seven Republican senators backed Trump’s impeachment following the storming of the U.S. Capitol. Only two of those House members have won their primaries this year.
According to one Wyoming voter, “Over 70% of the state of Wyoming voted Republican in the last presidential election, and she turned right around and voted against us. She was our representative, not her own.”
