Liz Cheney told her colleagues at a republican retreat on Saturday that she feels members of her party who supported not certifying the election in support of “the big lie” should not be considered qualified to run for the highest office in 2024.
Cheney is on an island of her own as one of very few elected republicans who agree that Trump incited the Jan. 6 riot over false claims of election fraud. She feels her party needs to admit that reality publicly, and move away from Trump’s ideology to maintain credibility with voters.
“I think that adherence to the Constitution, adherence to your oath has got to be at the top of the list. So, I think, you know that certainly will be a factor that I’m looking at and I think a number of voters will be looking at as they decide about ’24.”
Cheney believes republicans can win back the white house, but with candidates not heavily tied to the events of Jan. 6.
“I think we have a huge number of interesting candidates, but I think that we’re going to be in a good position to be able to take the White House,” she told the New York Post. “I do think that some of our candidates who led the charge, particularly the senators who led the unconstitutional charge, not to certify the election, you know, in my view, that’s disqualifying.”
Essentially that eliminates 139 house republicans and 8 senators which include Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley and Rick Scott. Their opposition to the Electoral College count was almost certainly fueled by their presidential ambitions — knowing that Trump is still the most revered figure within the GOP. The easiest path to the 2024 nomination, then, is to court Trump base voters.
In a Quinnipiac University poll in February, 76% of self-identified Republicans agreed with the statement that there was “widespread fraud in the 2020 election,” which means Cheney is clearly in her party’s minority.
Being out of step with her party — although in step with the truth — has already created major political problems for Cheney. Trump has pledged to beat her in the 2022 Republican primary for her House seat and several aspiring candidates have signaled they will run.