Some said it was the largest gathering ever held in the state of Wyoming. And the man at the center of the massive rally was former President Donald Trump.
When Trump took to the stage in Casper, Wyoming, he did not waste any time before he took some shots at Republican U.S. Representative Liz Cheney.
He joined other GOP state leaders to defeat the incumbent who has become one of the loudest critics of Trump.
“Few members of Congress in history have personally caused more damage and destruction to our Republican Party. She’s aided and abetted the radical Democrat Party in one of the most unhinged, lawless and dangerous witch hunts of all time,” Trump told rallygoers.
Trump was referring to Cheney’s work on the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021 riot on the U.S. Capitol.
The event was planned to support Harriet Hageman, the GOP candidate in the state’s August primary who has Trump’s endorsement for the lone congressional seat.
Trump continuously referred to Cheney as a RINO, or Republican in Name Only. She is the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney.
Trump said that the backstabbing RINOs are worse than the “terrible Democrats.” And he said that Cheney is a Republican who has “thrown in her lot with the radical left” more than any other.
Cheney files
Liz Cheney was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for his role in the Capitol insurrection. This is when protesters stormed the Capitol to try and stop the Electoral College from voting for Joe Biden.
She also accused the former president of threatening democracy for saying that the 2020 election was stolen. This was her position while serving as the vice-chair on the House committee investigating the insurrection.
Cheney officially filed for re-election on Thursday of last week and indicated on a video that was posted online that she was asking for support from Wyoming because the election matters.
“This is a fight we must win. If our generation does not stand for truth, the rule of law, and our constitution, if we set aside our founding principles for the politics of the moment, the miracle of our constitutional republic will slip away. We must not let that happen,” she said in the video.
The position that Cheney has taken with Trump caused her to be booted from GOP House leadership. Kevin McCarthy, the House Minority Leader, and Elise Stefanik, a New York Representative who replaced Cheney in the No. 3 GOP House leadership, made video appearances at the rally.
Former President Trump has put his money where his mouth is for Wyoming. He not only headlined the rally, but his Save America political action committee also donated $500,000 for television ads against Cheney. These ads feature Donald Trump Jr.
Hageman is a Wyoming attorney who made an unsuccessful attempt in the GOP primary for governor of Wyoming in 2018. She used to be a supporter of Cheney’s.
Frank Eathorne is the head of the Wyoming Republican Party. He spoke at the rally and said that he would “run through barbed wire for that guy, how about you?”
He also had pushed for Cheney to be censured after she voted to impeach Trump after the events of January 6, 2021.
Eathorne has admitted that he was near the Capitol on Jan. 6. He claimed in a statement that he did not witness any violence or property damage.
One source has indicated that Eathorne is a member of Oath Keepers, an organization that has a leader who is now facing seditious conspiracy charges in connection with the Capitol attack.
