Trump wins, Cheney loses in Wyoming

Liz Cheney, one of Donald Trump’s most powerful intra-party opponents, was swept in the Wyoming primary. However, he does not lay down his arms.

He is one of the most prominent political figures of the Republicans, a congressman since 2017, a sworn internal opponent of the former president Donald Trump, with many sympathies in Washington. Yet Liz Cheney narrowly lost a primary in Wyoming, a state with a long conservative tradition, ahead of November’s “midterm elections” for Congress. Thus, she will not be able to claim her re-election in the House of Representatives. She attributes the defeat to the political line of the former president.

“Two years ago I won this primary election with 73%,” declared the loser of the race after the results were announced. “I could do the same now, but I would have to accept President Trump’s lies about the 2020 election. I would have to embrace his efforts to undermine the democratic system and the foundations of the Republic. That is the path I do not want and I’m not going to follow him.”

Anthemon or … Hageman

For years, Donald Trump has been trying to weaken Cheney’s role in the Republican Party. After all, it is not about any politician. 56-year-old Liz Cheney is the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney and co-chair of the congressional inquiry into the invasion of the Capitol by Trump supporters on January 6, 2020. She participated in the uprising of ten Republican congressmen, who, immediately after the riots in the Capitol , attempted to initiate “removal proceedings” against Trump from the White House, the second of his presidency. Recently, speaking on CNN, he had accused the former president of “dereliction of duty, the worst in the history of the United States.” But 81-year-old Dick Cheney did not fail to appear in his daughter’s campaign spot, saying that “Donald Trump is the greatest threat to Democracy in the 246 years of our nation’s history.”

In Wyoming, however, Republican voters did not reward the … insurgents. They preferred to give the victory to the 60-year-old lawyer Harriet Hageman, who is clearly supported by Trump. Liz Cheney’s comment: “Tonight Harriet Hageman has the most votes. She has won. I called her to congratulate her. The primaries are over. But the real work now begins.” Everything shows that Liz Cheney is not giving up her attempt to prevent a new Trump bid for the White House in the 2024 presidential election. he imposes an establishment of his own on the Republicans, with a particular weakness in the ultraconservative, patriotic wing of the party. Before Wyoming CNN talked about a “referendum” for Liz Cheney. Today, of the ten Republicans who participated in the 2020 intra-party rebellion against Trump, eight have already been banned from the ballot.

Reaching out to Democrats

The predominance of the Trump line is essentially recognized by Liz Cheney, after the defeat in Wyoming, praising the fact that “important actors within the party are defending those who caused the violence and chaos” in the Capitol. But she not only does not give up her weapons, but appears more determined than ever, even attempting to reach out to allies outside the Republican Party. “Tonight I ask you to follow me,” he says characteristically. “Tonight let us pledge that together, Republicans, Democrats and independents, we will stand up to those who seek to destroy the Republic. They are angry and determined. But they have not seen the strength of Americans united in defense of the Constitution and committed to its cause. Freedom. There is no greater power on Earth. And with God’s help, we will prevail.”

Yannis Papadimitriou (AP, DPA)

Source: Deutsche Welle