Facing Long Shot Against Trump-Backed Candidate, Cheney Seeks High Ground by Embracing Jan 6 Probe

Although former US President Donald Trump was eventually acquitted by a minority of senators who felt his impeachment for inciting the Capitol insurrection was a political game, he has spared no effort hounding out the Republicans who sided against him, none more so than US Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY).

A new poll by the University of Wyoming has found that Cheney holds little sway among GOP voters in the upcoming primary election, who said they would vote for her rival Trump-backed Harriet Hageman, over her by a nearly 2:1 margin. The election is on August 16.

Notably, 41% of those who intend to vote for candidates other than Cheney said they were specifically doing so to vote against her. Several candidates other than Cheney and Hageman are expected to receive small numbers of votes.

Cheney, who is presently the third-most powerful Republican in the US House of Representatives and is the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, has fallen from the GOP’s good graces in the wake of the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Never a supporter of Trump’s, Cheney sided firmly against the power grab and voted to impeach Trump on charges of inciting the attack in the days that followed - just one of two Republicans to do so.

Later, Cheney headed up the bipartisan committee to investigate the insurrection, gathering mountains of evidence on the day of the attack and the events leading up to it, including testimonies, files, and records from the White House, much of Trump’s inner circle, and sympathetic political commentators like Alex Jones and Sean Hannity.

In an ad released on Thursday, Cheney embraced her role in the committee and the ire it has provoked among Trump and his followers.

“The lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen is insidious,” Cheney said in the ad. “It preys on those who love their country. It is a door Donald Trump opened to manipulate Americans to abandon their principles, to sacrifice their freedom, to justify violence, to ignore the rulings of our courts, and the rule of law.”

“Like many candidates across this country, my opponents in Wyoming have said that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen. No one who understands our nation’s laws, no one with an honest, honorable, genuine commitment to our Constitution, would say that. It is a cancer that threatens our great republic,” she said.

“Millions of Americans across our nation - Republicans, Democrats, Independents - stand united in the cause of freedom,” Cheney said. “We are stronger, more dedicated, and more determined than those trying to destroy our republic. This is our great task, and we will prevail.”

In January 2022, the Republican National Committee (RNC) voted to censure Cheney and Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, the other Republican on the committee, and voiced support for Trump’s claims that the November 2020 election had been stolen by the Democrats. The goal of the rioters when they stormed the Capitol was to block certification of the results of that election, which they failed to do.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) condemned the RNC’s move, drawing Trump’s ire. When Cheney announced her entry in the Wisconsin primary race to retain her seat, Trump attacked her as well, calling her “the face of the Washington swamp,” his term for the country’s career politicians.

“She’s the face of the Washington swamp and the same failed foreign policy of the Clintons, Bushes, the Obamas, the Bidens and the entire sick political establishment,” Trump declared.

In the primary races for the November 2022 midterm elections, Trump has sunk money and attention into his choice candidates in many races - oftentimes the rivals of other prominent Republicans, including his own vice president, Mike Pence. Trump has yet to announce his intentions for the 2024 presidential election, keeping them deliberately vague.