There were more interesting things happening in Wyoming last week than Liz Cheney versus Donald Trump. There appears to be a post-Trump coalition forming — or, at the very least, a flirtation with one. The dilemma for Cheney and her media allies on the Right is it appears to be one they want nothing to do with.
Stephen Hayes, the editor in chief of the Dispatch, accompanied Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) during the final weeks before her doomed election. “There were no illusions among those gathered for dinner about what was going to happen Tuesday, yet the mood was anything but somber,“ Hayes wrote.
During this dinner, Cheney spoke about the way forward: “We’re in this fight to make sure that those of us who believe in freedom and those of us who believe in the importance of maintaining our Constitution, those of us who believe in the importance of the republic — we’re going to prevail.“
In Hayes’s piece, titled “Choosing to Lose,” he acts as a cheerleader for Cheney and her father, struck by the grand declarations about taking the Republican Party back to a time before former President Trump. Hayes is not a mere observer there to take notes about these broad sonnets coming from the exiled Cheneys. He is standing alongside them, for better or worse.
While the old guard of the Bush establishment and the #NeverTrump media were gathered at their Wyoming Alamo, a few miles away, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was holding a retreat of sorts, perhaps as a rallying message against Cheney. Notably missing was the former president whom Cheney has made her primary focus, literally. Trump was not in attendance, but a surprise guest showed up: Elon Musk. Musk reportedly held a fireside chat with Republican leaders and donors about a way forward, possibly without Trump. Musk has been critical of Trump and has said he would consider backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis should he choose to run.
DeSantis has not announced any national campaign intentions, even as he begins touring the country to speak on behalf of candidates in the midterm elections. This will no doubt raise the specter of a national run in 2024, when he would no doubt come into direct conflict with Trump.
However, Trump is vulnerable on the Right due to his pandemic response, in which he — at least initially — embraced Dr. Anthony Fauci and encouraged school shutdowns in states such as Georgia. Also, Trump has not faced a candidate with the backing and fame of someone such as Musk, who can match Trump in name recognition and finances. And no one has made factions of the political Right ween from Trump like DeSantis has. There is also the simple notion of “Trump fatigue” that could set in with GOP voters. Should this all come to fruition, it poses a path through and beyond Trump.
The problem for Cheney and her media allies is she has stated that she would find supporting DeSantis very difficult. “I think that Ron DeSantis has lined himself up almost entirely with Donald Trump, and I think that’s very dangerous,“ she reportedly said. It’s worth noting Cheney herself voted for Trump in 2020. If Cheney were to buck DeSantis and a new GOP coalition of forward-thinking minds and donors, her media allies would undoubtedly follow and become professionally “#NeverDeSantis.”
That would undermine their entire cause even more, as they have labeled Trump a unique and generational danger to the country and the Constitution who must be stopped at all costs. Should a path present itself, outright rejecting it in favor of keeping the MSNBC hits and newfound liberal audiences would signal that they never believed what they said about Trump.
The Republican Party is never going back to the days of Dick Cheney and George W. Bush, and burning the house down completely by contributing to Democratic victories assures their supporters will not be invited to rebuild it. There is a possible new path forming, and it may be one that is happy to leave both the Trumps and the Cheneys behind — and that also includes Cheney’s media allies.
Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) has written for National Review, the New York Post, and Fox News and hosts the Versus Media podcast.
