Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) is dealing with down a brand new political future after dropping her Home main on Tuesday to Trump-endorsed lawyer Harriet Hageman.
Hypothesis about what the three-term congresswoman who hails from a Republican political dynasty will do as soon as her time in Congress involves an in depth has steadily grown louder, and the Wyoming Republican has not but signaled whether or not she plans to throw her hat into the 2024 presidential ring.
Cheney delivered a defiant speech Tuesday evening, slamming former President Trump, the motion he created and the candidates who repeat his claims concerning the 2020 election. It was without delay a concession speech and a promise of a future in public life.
“So I ask you tonight to hitch me. As we depart right here, allow us to resolve that we are going to stand collectively — Republicans, Democrats and Independents — in opposition to those that will destroy our republic,” Cheney stated.
However whilst she vowed to “do no matter it takes to make sure Donald Trump isn’t once more wherever close to the Oval Workplace,” she gave little indication of what precisely she herself will do subsequent.
“This main election is over, however now the actual work begins,” she stated.
Listed below are 5 questions on Liz Cheney’s political future:
Does she launch a 2024 presidential marketing campaign?
Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, has dodged questions on a possible 2024 run, preferring to convey the dialog again to her primary objective: conserving Trump out of the White Home.
The Wyoming Republican may land a gig on cable tv or be a part of a assume tank or pen a ebook, however Republican strategist Scott Jennings — who labored within the Bush-Cheney White Home — says Cheney’s “subsequent logical” step towards carrying out that objective is a 2024 bid.
“There are issues you could possibly do, however what higher platform would there be than to be working a marketing campaign?” Jennings informed The Hill in an interview.
“You may guess that if Cheney launches a marketing campaign for president, she’s gonna, you recognize, the quantity of protection she is going to get, and the quantity of media consideration she is going to get, will far outstrip her standing within the polls,” Jennings added. “And so, it strikes me that if you happen to’re wanting to speak to Republican audiences about what you assume is a crucial perspective, what higher means to do this and to do it within the presidential cycle?”
Logistically talking, a Cheney White Home bid is feasible.
The congresswoman skyrocketed to even larger nationwide prominence via her work as vice chair of the Home choose committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol. She has title recognition, deep ties within the Republican Social gathering and a large warfare chest, with $7.4 million remaining in her marketing campaign account as of three weeks in the past, in response to NBC News.
And whereas Cheney, true to sample, saved a lot of her speech Tuesday targeted on Trump and Trumpism, she didn’t rule something out for 2024.
Does she run to win the White Home — or maintain Trump out of it?
Insiders agree profitable the 2024 GOP presidential nomination can be an uphill battle for Cheney.
Most hypothetical polls present Trump within the lead and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), a proponent of Trump’s insurance policies, in second. And whereas votes are nonetheless being counted, Cheney seems to be trailing by 30 factors or extra.
However even with little probability of profitable, Cheney might run to affect the result of the first.
“How do you outline success?” Jennings stated. “For her it might be much less about profitable the nomination and extra about conserving Trump from getting the nomination. So I believe it simply will depend on the way you outline success.”
Her presence would additionally give a voice to anti-Trump Republicans who’ve been largely shut out of a presidential dialog dominated by Trump and individuals who espouse his insurance policies and rhetoric.
“In the case of individuals that aren’t a part of the entire MAGA motion, who aren’t pleased with the path that the Republican Social gathering has gone, who’re extra conventional conservative Republicans, like myself, from the previous, I believe that Liz Cheney is a extra interesting possibility,” stated Olivia Troye, a former aide to Vice President Mike Pence.
“I believe it’s necessary to have somebody like her be keen to proceed to push again and inform the reality about what’s occurring right here,” she stated.
Cheney on Tuesday referenced former President Lincoln, who fought to maintain the U.S. unified.
“The good and unique champion of our occasion, Abraham Lincoln, was defeated in elections for the Senate and the Home earlier than he gained crucial election of all. Lincoln in the end prevailed, he saved our Union, and he outlined our obligation as Individuals for all of historical past,” she stated.
What does she do together with her time left in workplace?
The Home choose committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol is already racing in opposition to the clock, making an attempt to tie up its investigation inside the subsequent few months in anticipation of Republicans profitable management of the chamber in November.
However earlier than then, the panel is vowing to carry extra public hearings and current extra data to bolster its argument that Trump was on the middle of a scheme to maintain himself in energy — shows that Cheney will probably play a big position in.
“We’re not winding down proper now,” Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ailing.) informed reporters within the Capitol final month. “It’s been superb to see, sort of, the flurry of individuals coming ahead, so it’s not the time to wind it down.”
Cheney has performed a central position within the committee’s earlier hearings, delivering opening and shutting statements and questioning witnesses showing reside earlier than the panel.
And she or he has not shied away from criticizing Trump or her GOP colleagues throughout these shows — a observe she is going to probably proceed, if not ramp up, within the remaining months of her time period.
Republican strategist Doug Heye informed The Hill that no matter path Cheney takes after her main defeat, she is going to ensure she stays a vocal presence in American politics, starting together with her work on the committee.
“What’s clear is that her voice isn’t going to go wherever,” Heye stated. “And that can begin with, you recognize, the following hearings on Jan. 6, after which we’ll proceed in no matter kind she decides to take them in.
What sort of help does she have for future strikes?
Cheney might have misplaced her main however she nonetheless has an unlimited nationwide community of supporters and donors who might be of assist for any future political strikes she may make.
The congresswoman broke her personal document within the first quarter of the yr, bringing in near $3 million, and adopted that up with a whopping $2.9 million within the second quarter.
Along with grassroots donations, Cheney raked in cash from notable Republican and Democratic donors throughout the nation together with former President George W. Bush, his former adviser Karl Rove, movie producer Jeffrey Katzenberg, and billionaire hedge fund supervisor Seth Klarman.
Nonetheless, in a Republican presidential main, Cheney would want to enchantment to a Republican main base. And she or he is probably not the one anti-Trump Republican within the discipline. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) has repeatedly been floated as a possible 2024 GOP hopeful and has but to rule out a run.
“I believe will probably be necessary for them to navigate how they may attain extra average voters,” Troye stated.
“These are longtime, revered Republican figures,” she continued. “And their voices can attain an viewers in a means that many can’t.”
What may she do apart from run for president?
Whereas a 2024 presidential bid is essentially the most talked-about chance for Cheney, there are different avenues the congresswoman can pursue as she seems to be to proceed her campaign in opposition to Trump.
One can be becoming a member of the cable information circuit as a commentator or analyst, which might give the congresswoman a large platform to tackle the previous president and denounce his false declare that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.
That route is a well-liked one for former lawmakers. Ex-Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), who was unseated by then-Missouri Legal professional Normal Josh Hawley (R) in 2018, joined NBC Information and MSNBC months after the race as a political analyst, and former Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) was employed by Fox Information as a contributor someday after he resigned from the Home in 2017.
Cheney may additionally be a part of a assume tank or kind her personal PAC, as Kinzinger, who shouldn’t be working for reelection this November, has performed.
Kinzinger — one other prime Trump critic and Cheney’s fellow Republican on the Jan. 6 panel — launched a PAC, titled “Nation First,” as a motion to problem the GOP’s embrace of Trump.
Another choice for Cheney is writing a ebook, a preferred transfer for prime figures leaving Washington. After bowing out of working for a 3rd time period in 2020, former Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas), who criticized Trump on quite a few events, penned a ebook titled “American Reboot: An Idealist’s Information to Getting Huge Issues Accomplished.”
Whereas it stays unknown what Cheney will select for her subsequent act, Jennings says the congresswoman probably has a plan driving her latest — and future — political strikes.
“I do know the Cheneys and I understand how good they’re and I understand how they function, and I’d be stunned if this wasn’t half of a bigger plan, however a plan that matches inside a mission,” Jennings stated. “I believe she believes she’s on a mission right here to maintain Donald Trump out of the White Home. So if that’s your mission, then they’re the type of people that would construct a plan to attempt to obtain that mission.”
