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| Liz Cheney - Credit: Shutterstock, Jerome460 |
The Republican Party punished Liz Cheney in the staunchly conservative western state of Wyoming for being one of the most prominent critics of the former president in Congress with a primary election that featured a candidate backed by Donald Trump.
Her father was former vice-president Dick Cheney, and she represents Wyoming in the House. While she was facing an uphill battle to win re-election, she defied the former president and Republican political leaders by voting to impeach Trump.
The former vice president said after her loss that she could have won the primary, but would have had to embrace Trump's conspiracy theories. “Our republic relies upon the good will of all candidates for office to accept the outcome of elections,” she said.
Her party has a history of losing congressional races before winning the presidency, as Lincoln had done. She denounced "major elements" of her party for supporting the January 6 rioters and attacking false allegations about Trump's home search. “Poisonous lies destroy free nations,” she said. “Freedom must not, cannot and will not die here.”
Alaska and Wyoming held their primaries on Tuesday, the last before November's midterm elections. They test Trump's grip on Republican voters after the FBI searched his Mar-a-Lago estate and began investigating his handling of classified national security documents.
Republican primary races have been difficult for candidates openly critical of Trump. The three candidates voted to impeach Trump over his conduct on January 6 have lost their seats to candidates endorsed by the former president. Only two of those who voted to impeach Trump survived the primaries.