Cheney ‘Thinking’ About 2024 Presidential Run After Primary Loss

Topline

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.)—an outspoken critic of former President Donald Trump and one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach him—is “thinking” about running for president in 2024, she told NBC’s “TODAY” show Wednesday morning, a day after she lost in a landslide in the GOP primary for Wyoming’s lone House seat.

Key Facts

Asked by host Savannah Guthrie if she would run, Cheney said that “is something that I am thinking about,” adding she would “make a decision in the coming months.”

Cheney pledged to do “whatever it takes” to ensure Trump does not win the presidency in 2024, as she did during her concession speech the night before after losing by more than 30 points to Trump-endorsed attorney Harriet Hageman.

She added the GOP has become a “cult of personality” that has to get back to a “place where we’re embracing the values and the principles on which it was founded.”

Crucial Quote

“I believe that Donald Trump continues to pose a very grave threat and risk to our republic. And I think that defeating him is going to require a broad and united front of Republicans, Democrats and independents, and that’s what I intend to be a part of,” Cheney said on the “TODAY” show.

Tangent

Cheney plans to launch an anti-Trump group in the coming weeks, her spokesperson told Politico Wednesday. The organization will aim to “educate the American people about the ongoing threat to our Republic” and “mobilize a unified effort to oppose any Donald Trump campaign for president,” spokesperson Jeremy Adler told Politico Playbook.

Key Background

Cheney was expected to lose badly Tuesday night after facing backlash in Republican circles for becoming a vocal critic of Trump. Cheney has been at the forefront of a House investigation into the January 6 insurrection as the vice chairwoman of the January 6 committee. She was removed from her role as head of the House Republican conference in May 2021 over her vote to impeach Trump after the riots. During a passionate concession speech Tuesday night, Cheney said the primary election was over, but now the “real work begins.” She argued she could have easily won the Republican primary again as she did two years ago, but instead chose against a “path” that would have required her to enable Trump’s efforts “to unravel our democratic system and attack the foundations of our republic.” Cheney also referenced President Abraham Lincoln, General Ulysses Grant and “all who fought in our nation’s tragic Civil War” during the speech, saying their “courage saved freedom,” in remarks some viewed as a hint at a presidential run.

Further Reading

Liz Cheney ‘thinking about’ White House run after primary loss, vows to do ‘whatever it takes’ to defeat Trump (NBC News)

Rep. Liz Cheney Loses In Landslide To Trump-Backed Hageman (Forbes)

Liz Cheney Invokes Lincoln and Grant in Impassioned Concession Speech (New York Times)