Vanquished Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney, who lost her primary race, has been accused by Trump-backed opponent Harriet Hageman of failing to concede personally – but newly leaked audio indicates that, in fact, she did.
Ms Cheney gave a concession speech in Wyoming on Tuesday night in which she described calling her opponent to concede. “This primary election is over,” Ms Cheney said, “but now the real work begins.”
Ms Hageman, however, told Fox News’s Sean Hannity that Ms Cheney had made only the most cursory effort to extend a graceful concession directly.
“She called and left a very brief two-second message on my cell phone,” Ms Hageman claimed. “That’s the extent of it. I haven’t had any other contact with Liz Cheney, she only made the one effort, and all she said was ‘Hello Harriet’ and that was the end of it.
“So she didn’t call and discuss with me any kind of concession or anything else.”
Pressed by Mr Hannity on whether Ms Cheney really did leave just a two-word message, Ms Hageman restated her claim.
“That was the end of the call, yes.”
But the Cheney campaign has now dismissed this story as false – and shared with Politico’s Olivia Beavers an audio recording of a “clear and direct” voicemail message that they said was one of several attempts to congratulate the now-nominee.
On the recording, a staffer can be heard telling Ms Cheney that the Associated Press has called the race for Ms Hageman.
“Hi Harriet,” says the congresswoman, “Liz Cheney calling, it’s about 8:13 on Tuesday the 16th, I’m calling to concede the election and to congratulate you on the win. Thanks. Goodbye.”
The campaign also said they had not heard anything back from Ms Hageman. That Ms Cheney’s team recorded the message may indicate that they anticipated needing to prove it was sent.
It has long been speculated that Ms Cheney may run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination as she becomes a de facto leader of her party’s minority anti-Trump tendency. She has many times declined to rule out running, and says she will make up her mind in the coming months.
With Mr Trump widely expected to announce a 2024 campaign of his own soon, perhaps even before the midterm elections, Ms Cheney would face long odds getting anywhere the nomination given his consolidation of the GOP base.
