Article Author:
Associated Press
Lisa Mascaro
WASHINGTON (AP) — Liz Cheney's crushing primary loss marks the end of an era for the Republican Party and her own family legacy. is showing. A high-profile political victim as Lincoln's party morphs into Trump's.
The downfall of her third-term congressman, who declared it her mission to keep Donald Trump from returning to the Oval Office, began with the 9/11 attacks. Earlier this year, on her first anniversary, it was clearly predicted. Houses of Parliament.
When the House convened for a moment of silence, Cheney, who is leading the riot investigation as Vice Chairman of the 1/6 Committee, and her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, nearly stood alone. The Republican side of the House of Representatives.
Democrats passed by to shake hands. Republicans refused to participate.
"Liz Cheney represents what was once the Republican Party," said Jeff Kabaservice, vice president of political research at the center-right Niskanen Center.
What Liz Cheney will do next is yet to be decided.
"Now the real work begins," she said in her election night concession speech in Wyoming. Cheney announces candidacy for White House
Overnight, she transferred the remaining campaign funds to a new entity, "The Great Task." A phrase from the Gettysburg Address.
"I will do whatever it takes to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office," Cheney told NBC's "Today" show early Wednesday, adding that running for president "is a big deal for me." is thinking, and I will make a decision in the coming months."
Whether she runs or not, her stance that Trump poses a danger to The belief is a belief that is deeply ingrained in her family.
But it's a view that has no place in today's GOP.
Trump is seeking to purge the Republican Party, wipe out opponents like Cheney who would go against him, and change the Republican Party landscape and the composition of Congress.
At the Capitol, out of 10 House Republicans, including Cheney, who voted to impeach Trump for inciting the Jan. 6, 2021 riots, are candidates for re-election. She is the only person left. Others either bowed or, like Cheney, were defeated by Trump-backed challengers.
If the Republicans win control of the House and Senate in the November elections, the new Congress is destined to be remade in Trump's image. However, his influence actually allows him to influence in two directions. Republicans would win the House, but the party would lose the Senate if his candidate failed to produce the broad appeal needed for statewide elections.
"It's just Donald Trump's fanatical dream party," said Mark Salter, former Republican aide to the late Sen. John McCain.
"It's just Donald Trump's club."
Since Dick Cheney first ran for Congress and was later elected Vice President, 2016 For 50 years, until the arrival of his daughter, who was elected with Trump's White House victory in 1949, Cheney held significant influence in Washington. The equated Cheney family, along with President Bush, represented the cornerstone of the post-World War II Republican Party, thriving as a party of small government, low taxes and a strong foreign policy.
Liz Cheney was unwavering and was voted by her House Republican colleagues to the same rank as her father, the third-ranked Republican in the House, and the highest-ranking woman.
But everything changed with the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Cheney was clear, condemning the attack on the defeated president and the false allegations of voter fraud and election fraud. We summoned and gathered a mob to ignite this attack," she said at the time, announcing her vote for impeachment.
"There has never been a greater betrayal of the power and oath of the President of the United States."
House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy initially defended Cheney, but the Republicans ousted her from the party leadership, which soon reversed. Her ouster was nearly complete when Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi nominated Cheney to her 1/6 panel.
Trump gleefully laughed at Cheney's loss in the Republican primary on Tuesday night, suggesting her claims of election fraud were false, calling her "sanctified." and ridiculed him as a "fool".
Trump swooped into Cowboy State and rallied for Harriet Hedgeman. Harriet Hedgeman was once very critical of him, but she, with the support of McCarthy and other party leaders, embraced the former president and defeated Cheney.
Cheney's loss marks the last Bush loss in office for Jeb's son, George P. Bush, who lost the Republican primary for Texas Attorney General to Trump-backed Ken Paxton in May. followed by.
Conservative writer Charlie Kirk on Fox News called Tuesday's election the "mass denial" of the Bush-Cheney-McCain era.
New York Rep. Ellis Stefanik, who replaced Cheney in the House Republican leadership and endorsed Hagemann, said in a statement that he was pleased to see Pelosi's "puppet" defeated. said.
Former Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson worked in Congress with Dick Cheney and knew Liz Cheney since she was a child. Eisenhower.
"What happened to our party is the fear of Donald J. Trump," Simpson said.
The core conservative values of the Republican Party founded in the mid-19th century became a more inward-looking, tense party focused on dissatisfaction at home and isolationism abroad during the Trump era.
Those running for Congress included many Republican incumbents who voted against authorizing the election of Joe Biden, It fueled Trump's brutally false allegations about the fraudulent election and fueled the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol.
And many of the new Republican congressional candidates have ruled out the election, according to a Democratic tally.
"The House is what it should be - the People's House," said former Republican Congressman Carlos Curbero of Florida. Instead, he said, "Mr. Trump rules."
Cheney has been walking alone through the Capitol for days, surrounded by her plainclothes Capitol Police who guard her in the onslaught of her violent threats.
Her mission to prevent Mr. Trump's return to office is reflected in her daily schedule. Much of her time is spent with the 1/6th Committee deepening and completing its work.
Simpson, a Wyoming Republican, said there was no doubt about Cheney's next move.