Liz Cheney, likely to lose House GOP leadership job, also facing serious challenge back in Wyoming
Trump’s political team vetting growing list of Cheney 2022 GOP primary challengers in Wyoming
By Paul Steinhauser | Fox News
It’s all but certain that as early as next week House Republicans will strip Rep. Liz Cheney of her number-three GOP leadership position – but Cheney faces another major headache back home in Wyoming, as Republicans are plotting to oust her as the state’s lone representative in Congress when she’s up for re-election next year.
Cheney, the most high profile of the 10 House Republicans to vote in January to impeach then-President Trump for inciting the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by right-wing extremists, is facing primary challenges from an increasing number of GOP candidates. That, however, might be Cheney’s saving grace: A crowded field likely divides the anti-Cheney and pro-Trump vote.
It wasn’t that long ago that the conservative Cheney, the daughter of former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney, was a rising star in the GOP. But thanks to her impeachment vote over Trump’s role in the storming of the Capitol and her vocal criticism of Trump’s repeated unfounded claims that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged” and “stolen,” she’s become a party pariah and is now at the top of the former president’s list of Republican enemies.
Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., the House Republican Conference chair, speaking with reporters following a GOP strategy session on Capitol Hill on April 20. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February, Trump urged his supporters to “get rid” of Cheney and added “hopefully they’ll get rid of her with the next election.”
Earlier this week he warned against splitting the anti-Cheney vote, arguing in a statement that “her only chance would be if vast numbers of people run against her which, hopefully, won’t happen.”
The former president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., is also cautioning against multiple primary challengers.
The younger Trump called into an anti-Cheney rally in Wyoming earlier this year, emphasizing “let’s not split this vote up and blow an opportunity to get rid of a RINO,” which is the acronym for Republican in name only.
A source familiar with Donald Trump Jr.’s thinking tells Fox News that “getting rid of Liz Cheney is right near the top of his 2022 to do list. You can expect him to be very engaged in that race.”
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/liz-cheney-house-republican-leadership-job-wyoming-challenge