Facing a narrow path to victory in next week’s Wyoming primary election, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) spoke out against former President Donald Trump and his unfounded claims that the 2020 election was illegitimate in an ad released on Thursday.
In her final pitch to voters, Cheney — a political scion who lost her position in House GOP leadership over her criticisms of Trump and his role in the Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol — asserted she won’t back down from calling out Trump, saying “poisonous lies destroy free nations.”
“America cannot remain free if we abandon the truth. The lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen is insidious. It preys on those who love their country,” she said in the ad.
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“It is a door Donald Trump opened to manipulate Americans to abandon their principles, to sacrifice their freedom, to justify violence, to ignore the rulings of our courts and the rule of law. This is Donald Trump’s legacy, that it cannot be the future of our nation.”
“History has shown us over and over again: These types of poisonous lies destroy free nations. Like many candidates across this country, my opponents in Wyoming have said that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen,” she added.
The Wyoming Republican went on to say that failing to condone election falsehoods poses a larger threat to democracy.
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“No one who understands our nation’s laws, no one with an honest, honorable, genuine commitment to our Constitution, would say that. It is a cancer that threatens our great Republic. If we do not condemn these lies, if we do not hold those responsible to account, we will be excusing this conduct, and it will become a feature of all elections,” she said.
Cheney is facing off against Trump-endorsed candidate Harriet Hageman, who endorsed Cheney in previous races and had been an informal adviser, in the race for the GOP nomination for the at-large House seat.
Trump has made Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, one of his top targets, often railing against the lawmaker for her decision to participate in the Jan. 6 select committee and holding a rally in Casper, Wyoming, in June to drum up support for Hageman.
While Cheney trails Hageman in the polls by a significant margin, with Trump remaining broadly popular in the Cowboy State, she has said even if she’s defeated, she plans to continue to be a leading force in fighting to ensure the former president isn’t reelected.
Multiple Democratic lawmakers have encouraged Democrats in the state to change their voter registration and vote for Cheney in the primary in an effort to boost her odds, with Wyoming remaining a Republican stronghold.
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Of the 10 GOP lawmakers who voted to impeach Trump, three have lost their primary battles.
Cheney has not ruled out a 2024 presidential run, potentially teeing up a primary battle between her and Trump.
