Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney has conceded defeat in her Wyoming primary race and will lose her seat in Congress to Trump-endorsed candidate Harriet Hageman.
A staunch Trump critic, Cheney used her concession speech to highlight her continued fight to prevent Donald Trump from becoming president again.
Her defeat comes after Cheney voted to impeach Trump in early 2021 and her central role in the January 6 House select committee, which is investigating Trump’s role in fuelling the insurrection at the US Capitol.
“Two years ago, I won this primary with 73 per cent of the vote,” Cheney said in her concession speech.
“I could’ve done so again. The path was clear. But it would’ve required that I went along with President Trump’s lie about the 2020 election. It would have required that I enable his ongoing efforts to attack our democratic system and attack the foundations of our republic. That was a path I could not, and would not, take.”
“No House seat, no office in this land is more important than the principles we are all sworn to protect. I well understood the potential political consequences of abiding by my duty. Our republic relies upon the good will of all candidates for office, to accept honourably the outcome of elections.
“This primary election is over, but now the real work begins.”
Cheney has been one of Trump’s most outspoken critics since January 6, a position that did her no favours in Wyoming, which is one of the most fiercely pro-Trump states in the US.
“I have said since January 6 that I will do whatever it takes to ensure Donald Trump is never again anywhere near the oval office and I mean it,” she said.
“I’m a conservative Republican. I believe deeply in the principles and the ideals on which my party was founded. I love its history and I love what our party has stood for – but I love my country more.”
Cheney is the daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney, and her decisive loss in the Wyoming primary race – where she received only 30 per cent of the party’s primary vote – is a stark indicator of Trump’s continued influence and power within the Republican party.
A bid for the presidency?
There has been speculation that Cheney will run for the presidency in 2024 and although she did not directly address it in her concession speech, she did seemingly compare herself former US President, Abraham Lincoln.
“The great and original champion of our party, Abraham Lincoln, was defeated in elections for the Senate and the House before he won the most important election of all,” she said.
She has previously confirmed a bid for the 2024 presidency is an idea she will think about over the coming months.