Liz Cheney vs Donald Trump: Why it’s not over yet
Liz Cheney vs Donald Trump: Why it’s not over yet
By Katty Kay
US Special Correspondent
- Published3 days ago
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Donald Trump says Republican voters sent Liz Cheney to “political oblivion” with her crushing election defeat at the hands of a candidate he endorsed. But not so fast – here’s how one of the former president’s biggest critics could still hurt him if he runs for re-election.
Martin Kimmet is a gentle man. He loves his pretty cows, reliable horses and beautiful state, in roughly that order. I joined him cattle wrangling in Wyoming recently to talk politics. His cows had escaped and he needed help to get them back, I was the only person on horseback at the time. ‘No’ wasn’t an option.
Now, I can ride, but I’m no wrangler. Fortunately, Martin couldn’t have been kinder. He was a gracious guide – to cattle, and conservatives.
So I was a little taken aback by the vehemence of his email celebrating congresswoman Cheney’s defeat to a Trump-backed candidate in her primary race on Tuesday. “We are ready to play hardball and we will win,” he wrote, adding “God bless us and guide us.” Martin believes the result shows that conservatives in Wyoming aren’t going to be “bullied by the elite any longer.”
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But what if it shows something else? Or rather, presages something else? Something quite different, a moment of rebirth for the Republican establishment.
Perhaps it’s a quirk of timing, but Liz Cheney’s defeat comes at a moment when the centre of American politics looks ready for revival. And she could be part of it.
Cheney’s concession speech had all the trappings of a presidential bid announcement. There were American flags, hay bales, majestic mountains and a stunning sunset. The small crowd was a bit of a problem, but the scene was perfect. It just lacked the announcement.
On Wednesday, when repeatedly asked if she would run for president in 2024, Cheney edged a little closer. “That’s a decision that I’m going to make in the coming months… it is something that I am thinking about,” she told NBC.
As Cheney herself must know, there is not a hope in hell that she could beat Donald Trump to the Republican nomination in 2024 (if he chooses to run again). She has burned too many bridges with millions of Trump supporters. As Martin Kimmit told me proudly, we “fired Liz Cheney!”
But beating Trump herself is not what matters to Cheney. She has made clear she plans to be part of a bipartisan coalition whose goal is to ensure he never holds office again.
One way would be to appeal directly to suburban Republicans, particularly women, who may be on the fence about the former president becoming a future president.
As a politician who never talked much about gender, Cheney has made a noticeable effort recently to talk about women. She’s spoken about the bravery of the women who have testified in the 6 January hearings, contrasting them with the men who didn’t speak up. In her final hearing she chose to wear a white jacket, the colour of American suffragettes. On the campaign trail in Wyoming she’s talked directly about mothers and daughters. She seems almost to be priming herself to have influence with other women voters in upcoming campaigns.
