Trump critic Cheney defeated in Wyoming midterm primary

Republican US congresswoman Liz Cheney, who has been an outspoken critic of former President Donald Trump, is projected to lose her state’s primary for November’s midterm elections.

Cheney faced Harriet Hageman, a lawyer backed by Trump, in Tuesday’s primary in the state of Wyoming. The vote was to pick the state’s Republican candidate for the House of Representatives.

The official results of the primary have not yet been announced, but multiple US media outlets project Hageman as the winner. Cheney herself has conceded in a speech to her supporters.

On Tuesday evening, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., used her concession speech to compare herself to former President Abraham Lincoln and hinted that her future in politics might not be finished just yet.

“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,” Cheney told a crowd of supporters in Jackson, Wyoming. “Lincoln ultimately prevailed, he saved our union, and he defined our obligation as Americans for all of history.”

“Speaking at Gettysburg of the great task remaining before us, Lincoln said, ‘We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from this earth.’ As we meet here tonight, that remains our greatest and most important task,” she added.

Talk has been swirling that Cheney, knowing she would lose to Hageman, was possibly planning a run for president in 2024, and a large portion of her speech focused on attacking former President Donald Trump over his questioning of the results of the 2020 presidential election and arguing that he should never be elected president again.

She vowed to continue fighting Trump and his associates, saying, “let us resolve that we will stand together — Republicans, Democrats, and independents — against those who would destroy our republic.”

In her victory speech, Hageman vowed to be accountable to the citizens of Wyoming and said that she was “sick and tired of not having a voice in the U.S. House of Representatives,” referring to Cheney.

“Wyoming has sent the message that if you are going to claim to live in Wyoming, you better damn well live in Wyoming,” Hageman said. “Wyoming has drawn a line in the sand that we put you in power, you will be accountable to us, you will answer to us, you will do what is in our best interests and if you don’t, we will fire you.”

Cheney voted to impeach Trump over the Capitol riot in January last year.

Meanwhile, Trump reacted with pure delight to Cheney’s loss, referring to it as a “wonderful result” in a post on Truth Social.

“Congratulations to Harriet Hageman on her great and very decisive WIN in Wyoming,” he wrote. “This is a wonderful result for America, and a complete rebuke of the Unselect Committee of political Hacks and Thugs.”

“Liz Cheney should be ashamed of herself, the way she acted, and her spiteful, sanctimonious words and actions towards others. Now she can finally disappear into the depths of political oblivion where I am sure, she will be much happier than she is right now. Thank you WYOMING!” he added.

Her defeat underscores Trump’s enduring influence on the Republicans, amid talk of his possible run in the 2024 presidential race.