Following her humiliating defeat in GOP primary and being rejected by Wyoming voters, outgoing congresswoman Liz Cheney has openly vowed to work for candidates of the Democratic Party during the November midterm election.
In an interview with ABC’s “This Week”, Cheney indicated she has no problems supporting Democratic candidates in some races against Republican “election deniers”.
“I’m going to be very focused on working to ensure that we do everything we can not elect election deniers”, she said.
“We’ve got election deniers that have been nominated for really important positions all across the country”, Cheney added. “I’m going to work against those people. I’m going to work to support their opponents”.
The Republican Party put together a 10-minute montage of Democrats, including the party’s 2016 nominee, Hillary Clinton, and then-Vice President Joe Biden, all denying that Donald Trump’s electoral victory was legitimate.
As for Cheney, she was soundly defeated by Trump-backed lawyer Harriet Hageman, who secured 66.3 percent of the vote compared to the incumbent’s 28.9 percent.
“Wyoming has spoken on behalf of everyone all across this great country who believes in the American dream, who believes in liberty, and who recognizes that our natural rights – the freedom of speech, freedom of religion, equal protection, and due process, come from God, they do not come from the Government”, Hageman said in a victory speech Tuesday night. “Wyoming has spoken on behalf of everyone who understands that our government is a government of, by, and for the people”.
The Daily Wire adds:
Cheney’s latest words seem to show she remains defiant in her quest against former President Donald Trump. Though rejected by voters in her own state, a left-leaning panel on ABC’s “This Week” offered words of praise.
Cheney is “committed not only to sort of take down Donald Trump but to take down the sickness of her party,” The Atlantic’s staff writer Mark Leibovich said. “I think she will be an extremely relevant figure in her party”.
Following her loss, Cheney lashed out at her party, including its House leader, Kevin McCarthy of California.
“I think what we have seen, not just in Wyoming but across the country, is that Donald Trump has betrayed Republican voters. He’s lied to them. Those who support him have lied to them. And they’re using people’s patriotism against them. They’re preying on people’s patriotism”, she claimed, according to the UK’s Daily Mail.
“This is a great, a special, exceptional nation, and we need leaders who have reverence to our Constitution, are faithful to our Constitution, and will do what’s required to abide by our oath no matter whether it’s politically convenient. Kevin McCarthy does not fit that bill”, she added.
The outlet continued:
Cheney’s rising star within the House GOP was derailed when she broke from her party to criticize Trump and ultimately voted to impeach him over the January 6 Capitol riot – which she took a lead role in investigating on the bipartisan House select committee.
For that work she had been censured by the Republican National Committee, renounced by the Wyoming GOP, and lost her role as the No. 3 leader in the House to pro-Trump Rep. Elise Stefanik.
During her concession speech Tuesday evening, Cheney reflected on how she won her last election by a 73-point margin and how “I could easily have done the same again”.
“The path was clear. But it would have required that I go along with President Trump’s lie about the 2020 election. It would have required that I enable his ongoing efforts to unravel our democratic system and attack the foundations of our republic”, she said.
“That was a path I could not and would not take”, she said.
She made similar remarks during her Today show interview.
“It was clear how that path would go”, she said, regarding her decision to criticize Trump following the January 6 riot and blame him for the incident before joining a Democrat-controlled committee to investigate that Republicans have called little more than an exercise in overt partisanship. “But that path would have required that I accept, that I embrace, that I perpetuate the big lie” about the 2020 election, she added.
