In the long run, it wasn’t even close.
Embattled Republican Rep. Liz Cheney easily crushed a push to strip her of her number-three House GOP leadership position over her vote to impeach then-President Trump.
Cheney won the aid of 145 members of the House Republican Conference Wednesday night, with only 61 Trump loyalists voting to eliminate her from the leadership role throughout a secret ballot vote amid a four-hour-long, stressed, and closed-door meeting.
But back home in Wyoming, Cheney still faces problems in a state Trump won by roughly 44 points over now-President Biden in last November’s presidential elections.
The three-term statewide congresswoman and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney has been censured by no less than a dozen county-level Republican committees throughout the Cowboy State, with all the Wyoming Republican Party probably to vote censuring Cheney as it meets this weekend.
Cheney’s also facing at least one primary challenge when she is up for re-election next calendar year. Along with the anti-Cheney campaign will likely be bankrolled in part by Trump and his allies.
And she had been a veteran of numerous clashes with Trump and his allies throughout his four years at the White House
She stressed that”there has never been greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”
Heading to the gathering, the anti-Cheney ringleaders stated that over half of House Republicans would return an expected resolution to strip her of her position. But thanks in part to a strong show of support from House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, and to the vote turned into a secret ballot, the bulk resistance to Cheney appeared to deteriorate.
While her leadership role in Congress is safe for today, Cheney’s attempting to make peace with all the Wyoming Republicans. In an announcement to the Sheridan Press and County 17 News at Gillette, Cheney revealed her “vote to impeach was driven by the oath I swore to the Constitution. Wyoming citizens know this oath does not bend or return to politics or partisanship.”
And she emphasized that”I will always struggle for Wyoming values and stand up for our Western lifestyle. We’ve got great challenges before us as we proceed and fight the disastrous policies of this Biden Administration. I look forward to continuing to work with officials and citizens across Wyoming are the most effective voice and advocate in defense of our families, communities and industries.”
But Cheney still faces political headaches.
Trump, who stays popular with Republican voters, has pledged to stay extremely active in GOP politics going forward, promising to encourage primary challenges to Republicans up for re-election in 2022 who have crossed him in the past.
Last week, top Trump political advisor Corey Lewandowski launched a new PAC called”Fight Back Now America” to support Trump’s mission. Its original goal: Cheney.
Lewandowski, who handled Trump’s 2016 presidential main campaign and served as a top adviser on the 2020 re-election effort, told Fox News last week that the former president”will continue to be actively involved in recruiting candidates and holding elected officials accountable for their votes.”
Last week, the former president’s political action committee, Save America, released a pollthat indicated that Cheney was wounded among Republicans by her vote to impeach Trump. Pointing to the survey, Lewandowski highlighted,”I think that Liz Cheney is realizing that in a country that has roughly a plus-64 Republican rating — some argue the most Republican or conservative country in the nation — that there are real consequences for voting to impeach someone based on words”
The poll was showcased hours after it was released by Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, a leading Trump ally, that took aim at Cheney at a large rally on the steps of this Wyoming Capitol.
“Liz Cheney is not as popular among Republicans in her state than Muammar Gaddafi was one of the Libyans,” Gaetz cracked.
Called into the rally additionally to attack Cheney. Pointing to her father’s infamous hunting accident, once the then-vice president wounded a buddy, Trump’s eldest son contended:”It seems like Liz Cheney’s favorables you will find just slightly worse than her dad’s shooting skills.”
It is not Don’s wish to see an Arab civil war, but he perspectives Liz Cheney into the exception to that rule.”
A Republican strategist at the former president’s orbit pointed to a new nationwide poll published this week that indicated Cheney was immensely unpopular with all Republican voters. “You don’t survive with these sort of numbers,” the strategist told Fox News.
While Trump planet will have the ability to raise and invest huge dollars to target Cheney, she will likely have the ability to remain aggressive in fundraising. Even without any significant opposition last year, the congresswoman increased $3 million to her re-election campaign.
Cheney’s already facing a primary challenge from state Sen. Anthony Bouchard, along with others also mulling whether to jump in the race. Multiple challenges would probably help Cheney survive.
At last week’s rally,” Trump Jr. warned against breaking up the anti-Cheney vote in the next year’s first, saying,”Let’s not split this vote up and blow a chance to eliminate a RINO.”
RINO is the acronym for “Republican in name only.”
While Gaetz’s rally drew a large anti-Cheney audience, the congresswoman still has many allies in Wyoming.
A week and a half ago, 30 Wyoming lawyers and judges –such as several of the nation’s former governors, two former state Supreme Court justices, and a former state attorney general — joined in an op-ed in the Casper Star-Tribune commending Cheney for after her constitutional duty.
