posted on 08/18/2022 06:00
(Credit: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP)
She is the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney and the second chairwoman of the House of Representatives Committee of Inquiry into the January 6 Capitol invasion. As a member of the Republican Party, he opposed Donald Trump and even defended the FBI after the seizure of documents at the MaraLago Mansion, the former President’s private resort in Florida. Criticism of Trump has cost Liz Cheney, 56, who has received multiple death threats in recent months, big bucks. On Tuesday night, the congresswoman suffered a loss to Harriet Hageman, an ally of the tycoon, in the Republican primary in Wyoming, her home state. The setback will make her unable to run for a new term in Congress in November’s general election.
Liz Cheney acknowledged defeat and sent a message to Trump. “Since January 6, I’ve said I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure Donald Trump never comes near the Oval Office again, and I mean it,” he said Tuesday night. Yesterday she admitted she is “thinking” about running for the White House in 2024 and announced the creation of a political action committee. “I’m thinking about it. I’ll make a decision in the next few months,” she said when interviewed on NBC’s Today Show. In recent months, Trump has vented his anger on Cheney, whom he has called “disloyal” and “a failure who teaches lessons.”
The expresident yesterday celebrated his party colleague’s failure in the elections as a “wonderful result for the USA”. “Now she can finally disappear into the depths of political oblivion, where I am sure she will be much happier than she is now.”
Adam Kinzinger, also a Republican congressman, did not hesitate to criticize his own party. “This sends a very strong message that this is no longer a party committed to truth. This is a party committed to conspiracy,” he said. In an interview with the same network, he praised Cheney as a “very determined and persistent politician”. “She will hunt Donald Trump to the gates of hell, that’s for sure.”
For Allan Lichtman, a political historian at American University (Washington), Cheney’s defeat is “a symbol of the end of conservative principles in the Republican Party”. “Cheney is a solid conservative on practically every issue. She was defeated because she refused to follow Trump’s dangerous authoritarianism,” she told the Courier. He recalls that under the tycoon’s leadership almost all the principles that conservative Republicans supposedly defended disappeared: personal morality, personal and financial responsibility, limited government and respect for tradition. “They have been replaced by a culture war and a quest for power at all costs.”
Lichtman doesn’t think Liz Cheney has a great future to run for office in the Republican Party. “But she could run for president just to give her views a platform. Imagine a debate between Trump and Cheney!” he said.
Thomas E. Patterson, a professor of government and the press at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, told the report that Cheney’s participation on the House Committee puts her in a position to lead opposition to Trump within the Republican Party. “This could involve an independent presidential campaign that could erode Trump’s chances of winning in 2024. She is not an alternative candidate for many Republicans and would have no chance of winning the party’s nomination. But as an independent candidate, Liz Cheney could diminish Trump’s election chances by deflecting votes away from Republicans who believe the mogul is unfit to be president but also don’t want to vote for a Democrat.”
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Liz Cheney speaks to supporters during the election in her home state of Wyoming: persona non grata in the Republican Party Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP
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JACKSON, WYOMING AUGUST 16: U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney (RWY) addresses supporters during a primary night event on August 16, 2022 in Jackson, Wyoming. Rep. Cheney was defeated in her first race by Wyoming Republican congressional candidate Harriet Hageman. Alex Wong/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by ALEX WONG/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/Getty Images via AFP) Photo by: Alex Wong/Getty Images/AFP
Brazilian mention
In the speech in which she admitted defeat, Liz Cheney cited a meeting with a Brazilian last week in Laramie, southeastern Wyoming. “America has meant so much to so many people because we are the best hope of freedom on earth.” In Laramie, a gentleman came to me with tears in his eyes. “I’m not American,” he said. “But my children are. I grew up in Brazil. I know how fragile freedom is and we shouldn’t lose it here.
I find…
Credit: Jon Chase/Harvard
“The turning point in Liz Cheney’s position within the Republican Party came when she voted to impeach Donald Trump in 2021. This led to her being removed from a senior position among Republican lawmakers and to criticism from the Republican Party in Wyoming. His participation on the committee investigating the January 6 Capitol invasion has only cemented Republican opposition to Cheney.
Thomas E. Patterson, Professor of Government and Press at Harvard University
“There is nothing more the Republicans can do to retaliate against Liz Cheney. She will continue to serve as vice chair of the committee investigating the Capitol invasion for more than four months. And she’ll have a following, media exposure, and ample resources to get her message out. Liz Cheney has her eye set on making history, which doesn’t depend on being one of the 435 Representatives of the United States. Their mission is to preserve American democracy and return the GOP to its historical roots.”
Allan Lichtnman, political historian at American University (in Washington)