U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., ousted in her primary after being a staunch and vocal critic of former President Donald Trump, called the defeat of far-right candidates in the midterm elections “a clear victory for the normal team. »
Cheney made the comments Thursday at the Anti-Defamation League’s Never Is Now Summit on Anti-Semitism and Hate in New York, where she was asked to weigh in on the election results.
“I think you’ve seen people come together in very important races across the country to say, ‘We believe in democracy.’ We believe in defending the Constitution and the Republic,” Cheney said.
Republicans entered the midterm elections with heightened expectations that the party’s candidates would be ready to create a red wave by seizing on high inflation, a crime problem and President Joe Biden’s weak approval ratings.
But that level of success has failed to materialize for the party, which has a chance to narrowly win control of the House but may also fall short of flipping the Senate after several Trump-backed candidates lost key races. Control of both chambers is unclear as ballots are counted in several races too close to call.
Cheney narrowly lost the Republican primary in August to her Trump-endorsed opponent, Harriet Haegman, who was elected Tuesday for Wyoming’s sole House seat with nearly 70% of the vote.
Trump supporters vilified Cheney and the nine other House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump last year. One of them was re-elected on Tuesday, and the results of another are being counted. Cheney and three others lost the primary, and four declined to run for re-election.
Cheney, who has served as the committee’s vice chairman since Jan. 6, 2021, crossed party lines to endorse three Democrats in Tuesday’s election. Two of the Democrats she supported, Abigail Spanberger of Virginia and Alyssa Slotkin of Michigan, won, while a third, Representative Tim Ryan of Ohio, lost his Senate race to J. D. Vance.
When the program’s moderator, journalist Abigail Pogrebin, told Cheney that she could never imagine a Republican congressman campaigning for a Democrat, Cheney replied, “Yeah, me neither.”
