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Liz Cheney says she won’t be a Republican if Trump is 2024 GOP presidential nominee

Wyoming congresswoman lost her seat earlier this year to Trump-backed opponent

John Bowden
Washington DC
Monday 26 September 2022 14:19 BST
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Liz Cheney says a House Republican muttered ‘the things we do for the Orange Jesus’

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Congresswoman Liz Cheney has hinted publicly that she could run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, but now says that she may not be in the GOP past that point at all.

The Wyoming Republican told an interviewer at the Texas Tribune festival over the weekend that she would not be likely to remain in the Republican Party should its voters once again select Donald Trump as its standard-bearer in 2024.

Ms Cheney has become notable over the past year for her resistance to Mr Trump in the wake of his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the subsequent siege of Congress; she herself lost her seat to a Trump-backed primary challenger, Harriet Hageman, in August.

“It’s not about me or making a decision about what I’m going to do,” she told those in attendance. “I certainly will do whatever it takes to make sure Donald Trump isn’t anywhere close to the Oval Office.”

She added: “I’m going to make sure Donald Trump, I’m going to do everything I can to make sure he is not the nominee. And if he is the nominee, I won’t be a Republican.”

The admission would put her in line to follow the path of numerous other anti-Trump conservatives like Paul Ryan and others who largely find themselves without a party after dominating the leadership of the GOP in Congress just a short time ago.

While other “Never Trumpers” have come around to supporting the president, others have launched anti-Trump conservative publications like The Bulwark and groups including the Lincoln Project to wage war for influence over the party. Ms Cheney herself announced the formation of such a group upon her loss to Ms Hageman last month.

She remains vice chair of the House select committee investigating January 6 as well as she serves the remainder of her term on Capitol Hill.

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