Cheney: If Trump is nominee, I won’t be a Republican
FILE – Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., speaks Aug. 16, 2022, at a primary Election Day gathering in Jackson, Wyo. Cheney lost to Republican opponent Harriet Hageman in the primary. Cheney is openly considering a presidential run. But in the days since she lost her Wyoming congressional primary, would-be supporters have expressed skepticism about a White House bid. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
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(NewsNation) — Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney has stayed true to her fight in preventing election deniers from taking office. The 56-year-old Republican joined Evan Smith, the CEO of the Texas Tribune, at the 2022 Texas Tribune Festival on Saturday to discuss the current state of the nation’s democracy.
Cheney answered questions on events surrounding Jan.6, challenges the committee has faced and losing her reelection bid in Wyoming.
But also discussed Cheney’s biggest goal to date: make sure former President Donald Trump goes nowhere near the Oval Office.
“I will do whatever it takes to make sure Donald Trump isn’t anywhere close to the Oval Office,” Cheney told Smith.
This includes going as far as to not identify as a Republican if Trump becomes the party’s nominee for president.
“I’m going to make sure that Donald Trump isn’t the nominee, and if he is the nominee I won’t be a Republican,” Cheney said.
In August, after her reelection loss, Cheney vowed she would focus on keeping election deniers out of office, noting that she is still focused on her role on the Jan. 6 committee as well as “tremendous work left to do as Wyoming’s representative in Congress.”
Cheney said that she would get involved in campaigns against Republican candidates who are challenging or denying the results of the 2020 election, including her GOP colleagues in Congress.
The Wyoming lawmaker added that she will also aim to educate the nation about the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol.
“I’m also going to spend a lot of time doing everything I can to help educate the American people about what happened. And I think our hearings have been a tremendous contribution to that,” she said.
Hours after losing her reelection primary to Trump-backed challenger Harriet Hageman, she said that she is “thinking about” running for president.
“That’s a decision that I’m gonna make in the coming months, and I’m not gonna make any announcements here this morning. But it is something that I am thinking about, and I’ll make a decision in the coming months,” Cheney told NBC’s “Today” show.
In her interview with Smith on Saturday, Cheney backed this possibility, stating once again that she would do anything to keep Trump out of office.