Congresswoman Liz Cheney denounced two of her party’s furthest-right members in the US Senate on Sunday and called them categorically “unfit” for office.
In an interview with ABC’s This Week, her first major sit-down interview since losing her primary election to Donald Trump-endorsed Harriet Hageman on Tuesday, she excoriated Sens Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ted Cruz of Texas for their roles in supporting Mr Trump’s lies about the 2020 election.
“When you look at somebody like Josh Hawley, or somebody like Ted Cruz,” said the congresswoman, “both of whom who knew better” than to believe Donald Trump’s conspiracies about election fraud.
“Yet both of whom took steps that fundamentally threatened the constitutional order and structure in the aftermath of the last election,” she continued. “In my view, they both have made themselves unfit for future office.”
Ms Cheney herself is thought to be harbouring future political ambitions, and is launching a group aimed at breaking Donald Trump’s hold on the GOP.
Mr Cruz famously ran for president in 2016 and came second in the GOP primary contest to Donald Trump. He and Mr Hawley are both floated occaisionally as future Republican primary contenders, with the caveat that neither of them stand much of a chance should Mr Trump himself decide to enter the fray.
Ms Cheney stands even less of a chance in a hypothetical Republican primary contest, given her outspoken opposition to Mr Trump and Trumpism.
The Wyoming congresswoman was soundly defeated in Tuesday’s primary election, and was down by more than 30 points, typically unheard of for an incumbent, when the race was called.
She now plans to launch a conservative organisation opposing Donald Trump, though few details have been announced thus far. And she remains in Congress until the end of this year, where she will continue her very public work on the January 6 committee as it investigates the attack on the US Capitol.
