Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.), a one-time ally of Donald Trump who became one of his most ardent Republican critics, is projected to lose her primary on Tuesday after a longshot bid to survive defying the former president and his influence over GOP voters.
NBC News and CBS News both called the race shortly after 10 p.m. ET.
Cheney was soundly defeated by Harriet Hageman, an attorney and former Republican National Committee (RNC) member who was endorsed by Trump last year. Hageman will be the heavy favorite to succeed Cheney next year as the deep red state’s lone representative in the House.
Hageman’s victory on Tuesday was the final — and perhaps most significant — milestone in Trump’s effort to purge the House of the 10 Republicans who voted last year to impeach him for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Of those 10, four opted not to run for reelection this year, while four others — including Cheney — have lost renomination to Trump-backed challengers. Only two have survived primary challengers so far: Reps. David Valadao (R-Calif.) and Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.).
Cheney’s primary loss is a particularly symbolic victory for Trump. After Cheney voted to impeach the former president last year, she emerged as a Republican bulwark against Trumpism, frequently criticizing Trump as an anti-democratic strongman with little, if any, regard for the U.S. Constitution.
That criticism landed her in hot water with her GOP colleagues and prompted them to remove her as the chair of the House Republican Conference.
The fallout didn’t stop there.
The RNC and Wyoming Republican Party voted last year to censure Cheney, and many of her fellow Republican members of Congress rallied around Hageman’s effort to oust her.
Cheney remained defiant. She was one of two Republicans tapped to serve on the House select committee charged with investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and was eventually elevated to the role of vice chair.
All the while she faced brutal headwinds in her primary as Trump took a particularly keen interest in the race. His team spent months interviewing potential Republican challengers to Cheney and the former president himself fielded meetings with some candidates before weighing in on Hageman’s behalf.
The result was a significantly narrower primary field that turned the race into a clear choice between a steadfast Trump ally and Cheney.
It was an unusual turn of events for the three-term Wyoming congresswoman, who endorsed Trump six years ago during his 2016 White House bid and maintained that support even as many Republicans distanced themselves from him following the release of a recording in which Trump was heard making vulgar remarks about women.
As a member of Congress, Cheney also voted in line with Trump’s positions nearly 93 percent of the time, according to the data website FiveThirtyEight.
But it was the aftermath of the 2020 presidential race and Trump’s claims that the election was rigged against him that pushed Cheney to a breaking point from which she would never return.
……..
- Discussion
-
#BREAKING: Liz Cheney defeated in Wyoming primary https://t.co/58UEup9HMt pic.twitter.com/gzWuhLuO9N
— The Hill (@thehill) August 17, 2022
Voters say they want to be told the truth, not what they want to hear. Liz Cheney proves that voters absolutely hate to be told the truth—and will punish those who tell it.
— Windsor Mann (@WindsorMann) August 16, 2022
I don’t know how anybody could think this is not mass insanity. This isn’t bad ideas. This isn’t unacceptable policy ideas. It is mass insanity. https://t.co/W5t3vh8NK1
— Jeff Kemp (@jkempcpa) August 17, 2022
And Wyoming will have what it deserves, I guess. https://t.co/ajYJLl3zcl
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) August 17, 2022
When Liz Cheney loses she’ll join most of those Republicans who stood against Trump. But they were never “turncoats.” They lost while demonstrating that loyalty is never blind, and in its best version, it can defend an institution even from itself. https://t.co/b9EhDGXT5x
— David French (@DavidAFrench) August 17, 2022
After she is projected to lose her primary race, GOP Rep. Liz Cheney warns that “no American should support election deniers for any position of genuine responsibility where their refusal to follow the rule of law will corrupt our future.” https://t.co/4OLJ5E3NJT pic.twitter.com/uR3WHn5XOu
— ABC News (@ABC) August 17, 2022
Cheney says she could’ve won this election again if she had kept quiet on trump and the election being stolen.
“That was a path I was not willing to take”
— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) August 17, 2022
She says no House seat is worth that.
— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) August 17, 2022
Cheney is warning about future elections and other Rs refusing to certify election results. pic.twitter.com/Boxw5Boxue
— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) August 17, 2022
Cheney says she will do whatever it takes to stop Trump from being near the Oval Office again.
“And I mean it.”
— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) August 17, 2022Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), conceding defeat:
“2 years ago, I won this primary with 73% of the vote. I could easily have done the same… But it would have required that I go along with President Trump’s lie about the 2020 election… That was a path I could not and would not take.” pic.twitter.com/8bPYQDZrxP
— The Recount (@therecount) August 17, 2022
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.