Liz Cheney Is Set on Keeping “Election Deniers” Out of Office—Including Donald Trump

“I’m going to work against those people. I’m going to work to support their opponents. I think it matters that much.”

Tom Williams/Getty

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.

After losing reelection in Wyoming this week, Rep. Liz Cheney has set her sights on a new target: keeping “election deniers” out of office, starting with former president Donald Trump.

In a wide-ranging interview with ABC’s This Week aired on Sunday morning, Cheney told host Jonathan Karl about her plans to start a political organization tasked with preventing a second Trump presidency and opposing other candidates who support his “Big Lie” about the 2020 election.

“I’m going to be very focused on working to ensure that we do everything we can not to elect election deniers,” Cheney said. “And I’m going to work against those people. I’m going to work to support their opponents. I think it matters that much.” She told Karl that some of those targets may include her Republican colleagues in Congress.

She also revealed that it would be “very difficult” for her to support a Trump-aligned presidential candidate in 2024. In Cheney’s eyes, Republican Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Ted Cruz of Texas, both of whom have taken action to overturn the election results, have “made themselves unfit for future office.” And when asked about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, another potential challenger to Trump, Cheney said, “DeSantis is somebody who is right now campaigning for election deniers. And I think that is something that people have got to have real pause about. Either you fundamentally believe in and will support our constitutional structure, or you don’t.”

Election denial is “dangerous broadly speaking,” Cheney said, and Trump, as the leader of the movement, is the “center of the threat.” After January 6, she said, “There’s just simply no way that the nation can, in my view, sustain itself if we excuse that and put him in a position of power again.” (As my colleague Tim Murphy writes, it should be noted that Cheney endorsed Trump in 2016 and 2020.)

In the near future, in her role as vice chair of the House January 6 committee, Cheney plans to use much of her remaining tenure in Congress to educate Americans about the aftermath of the 2020 election. “I think it’s really important for people really across the political spectrum of all ages to understand and recognize why what happened after the last election can never happen again,” she said.

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate