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Strategists doubt that Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., who lost her primary election Tuesday night to a challenger endorsed by former President Trump, has what it takes to garner the GOP nomination should she run for president while seemingly dismissing the idea that her plans for 2024 could possibly upend Trump’s chances of gaining back the White House.
During an appearance on NBC’s “Today Show” Wednesday morning, Cheney said she will “do whatever it takes to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office,” insisting that she is “thinking” about a run for the presidency and will make a decision “in the coming months.”
Political strategists from both sides of the aisle are at odds over how Cheney’s involvement in the 2024 presidential race could impact Trump’s chances should he officially declare his candidacy for president in the 2024 election, telling Fox News Digital that it is unlikely she could ever win the nomination.
“Rep. Cheney actually could have won Wyoming had she run ‘for’ the people of Wyoming rather than ‘against’ DJT. ‘Against’ candidates don’t win,” said Boyd Matheson, host of Inside Sources for KSL News Radio and former chief-of-staff to Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah. “If Cheney runs for president, she will be a non-factor if she continues by running a backward facing, fighting the last war, battle against DJT kind of campaign. Presidential politics is never about what was, or even what is, but about what is next.”
LAWMAKERS, PUNDITS REACT TO LIZ CHENEY’S LOSS IN WYOMING: ‘GIRL, BYE’
Former President Trump endorsed Harriet Hageman, Rep. Liz Cheney’s challenger in the GOP primary race to represent Wyoming’s at-large Congressional District. (Brandon Bell, Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)
“Rep. Cheney has proven she can fundraise, though it will be interesting to see what moderate democrats and independent donors would do in an actual presidential contest,” Matheson added.
Cheney, who has served in Congress since 2017, was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach the former president following the events of Jan. 6, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol. In her role as vice-chair of the House’s January 6 select committee investigating what took place that day, her messaging has resonated with voters who have shifted their support from Trump.
Lauren Claffey Tomlinson, a Republican strategist and president of Claffey Communications, suggested that messaging could resonate with some voters, but that it is “highly unlikely” that she could earn her party’s nomination for president.
“Liz Cheney running for president will provide a foil to former President Trump, in a potential primary field that has shown little interest in attacking Trump directly,” Tomlinson said. “The Republican Party traditionally has welcomed a wide range of primary candidates that showcase the diversity of thought and experience that lives within the party. It’s highly unlikely she could win the nomination, but she could bring into the primary conversation issues important to voters that moved away from President Trump in 2020.”
Former President Trump leaves Trump Tower to meet with New York Attorney General Letitia James for a civil investigation on August 10, 2022 in New York City. (James Devaney/GC Images)
Tomlinson also suggested that Trump is “more of a fixed brand” and that primary attacks he may face from Cheney would not impact his election chances in the same way it could individuals that may be new to the arena.
“Normally you might be concerned that primary attacks would damage a candidate in the general election with voters, but Trump is more of a fixed brand with people at this point, so I don’t think it would harm him in the same way it could lesser known candidates,” she said.
In contrast, Sarah Norman, a Democratic political strategist and senior advisor to digital for Kamala Harris’s 2020 presidential campaign, said she believes Cheney “shakes things up a bit.”
Following her primary loss to Harriet Hageman, Rep. Liz Cheney said Wednesday morning that she is “thinking” about a White House run in 2024. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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“While I think ultimately Trump or DeSantis would pull ahead, she has liberals like me thinking of voting for her,” Norman said. “I think she could help heal our political divide, and I’d consider voting for that.”
On primary day, voters in Wyoming also shared their thoughts with Fox News Digital about a potential presidential run from Cheney in 2024, with some saying they do not want to see her in the White House as others stated they would support her.
