Rep. Liz Cheney conceded the race in the Wyoming Republican primary for her House seat on Tuesday, but has promised to continue fighting against what she says are efforts to “destroy” American democracy, and her continued efforts to oppose former President Donald Trump.
“Two years ago, I won this primary with 73% of the vote. I could easily have done the same again, the path was clear. But it would have required that I go along with President Trump’s lie about the 2020 election,” Cheney told a crowd of supporters in Wyoming.
Cheney won only 29 percent of the vote in the primary, defeated by her opponent Harriet Hageman, a ranching industry attorney, who earned 66 percent of the vote on the back of an endorsement from Trump.
Cheney has been one of Trump’s most vocal critics within the Republican Party and has had a prominent role on the Jan. 6 Committee which is holding hearings on the former president’s part in the attack on the U.S. Capitol. She said winning her primary as she did in 2020 would have required ignoring Trump’s role in the attacks on American democracy.
“It would have required that I enable his ongoing efforts to unravel our democratic system and attack the foundations of our republic. That was a path I could not and would not take.”
Cheney ended her speech by promising to continue to “do whatever it takes to ensure Donald Trump is never again anywhere near the Oval Office.”
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