Former Bush-era special assistant Scott Jennings laid out Republican Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney’s mistakes in her primary race on CNN Tuesday.
Cheney, after losing widespread support among Republican voters, is expected to lose her Tuesday primary election to Trump-endorsed Harriet Hageman, who is currently leading her double digits in recent polls. Jennings said “there’s a difference” between Cheney and moderate Republican Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp in their approach to opposing former President Donald Trump.
“What Cheney did is make it her entire life’s direction. This is her one and only mission,” Jennings said. “Kemp, Murkowski, they just sort of ignored Trump and they just sort of moved on with their lives and Kemp did win, it looks like Murkowski is gonna be okay, so I actually think there’s a path out of challenging him and it’s just not making it the center of your life. That’s her choice.”
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CNN political commentator S.E. Cupp said Trump has had the effect of destroying Republicans’ reputations when they have turned against him. CNN political director David Chalian added that the former president still holds a grip on the Republican Party, and doubted that there is a path for Cheney if she decides to run in the 2024 presidential election. (RELATED: Rep. Liz Cheney Says She Will ‘Continue To Be Very Involved’ Even If She Loses Primary)
The Republican Party largely turned against Cheney after her vote to impeach Trump in the aftermath of the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Her support for impeachment led to her censure by the Wyoming Republican Party in February 2021. She was later ousted from her role as the House GOP conference chair in May 2021, but vowed to do everything in her power to “ensure that the former president never again gets anywhere near the Oval Office.”
The Wyoming representative told CNN’s Kasie Hunt in early August that she does not expect to lose her August 16 primary race to Trump-endorsed candidate Harriet Hageman, however, her priority is to the Constitution rather than an election. In her closing statement at a June debate, she vowed to hold the country over a political party and fight for what she believes is right.
“I will never put party above my duty to the country,” Cheney said. “I will never put party above my duty to the Constitution. I swore an oath under God and I will abide by that oath. I won’t say something I know is wrong simply to earn the votes of people to earn political support.”
Her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, recently slammed Trump in a campaign video for his daughter, where he called the former president “a coward” who lied to his supporters.
A poll conducted by the University of Wyoming found that Cheney is down 30 points in the race against Hageman. A total of 28% of Republican primary voters intend to support Cheney, while her opponent garnered 57% support. The poll surveyed 836 Wyoming residents, including 562 likely Republican primary voters between July 25-August 6 with a 4.1% margin of error among Republicans and 3.5% among Wyoming residents.