Liz Cheney promises to keep Donald Trump out of the White House

U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney stated she would do “whatever it takes” to make sure that former President Donald Trump isn’t the GOP presidential nominee throughout the 2024 elections, together with stumping for Democrats working in opposition to election deniers working as Republicans.

When requested by Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith if she would take into account working for president towards that finish, the Republican congresswoman reiterated she would do all the pieces in her energy to stop the former president from representing her social gathering in the subsequent presidential election.

“I certainly will do whatever it takes to make sure Donald Trump isn’t anywhere close to the Oval Office,” Cheney stated throughout the closing night time of The Texas Tribune Festival.

Cheney, who misplaced to a Republican main challenger in August however will proceed as vice chair of the House Jan. 6 Committee till she leaves workplace in January, stated she continues to determine as a Republican, celebrating the legacy of the likes of Ronald Reagan and Dwight D. Eisenhower.

But she stated she would not be a Republican if Trump will get the social gathering’s nomination in 2024.

“I’m going to make sure Donald Trump, make sure he’s not the nominee,” Cheney stated. “And if he is the nominee, I won’t be a Republican.”

Cheney maintained that she is an ardent conservative on coverage points, voting in close to lockstep with Trump’s legislative agenda when he was in workplace. But she warned a House Republican majority would give outsized energy to members who’ve been staunch allies of the former president and his efforts to keep the White House, together with U.S. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert and Jim Jordan.

Cheney excoriated Trump for his failure to name off rioters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. She stated with out equivocation that any resolution by the investigating committee about whether or not there needs to be felony prosecution could be unanimous throughout the seven Democrats and two Republicans. She didn’t say whether or not the committee would resolve in favor of a felony prosecution.

“One of the things that has surprised me the most about my work on this committee is how sophisticated the plan was that Donald Trump was involved in and oversaw every step of the way,” Cheney stated. “It was a multipart plan that he oversaw, he was concerned in personally and instantly.

“While leaders in Congress were begging him, ‘Please, tell the mob to go home,’ Donald Trump wouldn’t,” Cheney stated. “And just set the politics aside for a minute and think to yourself, ‘What kind of human being does that?’”

The committee is gearing up to wrap up its work in the coming weeks and is slated to meet this Wednesday for an additional public listening to, providing no particulars about what might be mentioned then. She stated subsequent week’s listening to is unlikely to be the committee’s final, regardless of committee Chair Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., suggesting the opposite earlier this week.

When requested if she would really like Trump to testify earlier than the committee, she paused for a second earlier than providing the following: “Any interaction that Donald Trump has with the committee will be under oath and subject to penalty of perjury.”

Cheney suffered a precipitous loss in the Republican main for her Wyoming seat for her position on the committee, and he or she stated Saturday that she wouldn’t vote for the Republican nominee for her seat, Harriet Hageman, in the normal election.

But she challenged the viewers not to query her means to keep combating in opposition to Trump after she leaves the House.

When requested about her personal presidential ambitions, Cheney demurred.

“It’s really important not to just immediately jump to the horse race and to think about what we need as a country,” Cheney stated.

Her criticisms aren’t restricted to the former president. Cheney additionally flatly stated she doesn’t imagine House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy ought to ever develop into Speaker of the House, which might put him second in line to the presidency behind the vice chairman.

“At every single moment, when our time of testing came and Kevin had to make a decision … he’s made the politically easy-for-him, or the politically expedient, decision instead of what the country needed,” she stated.

But Cheney didn’t surrender hope in her social gathering, saying: “I think we have to have a Republican Party that can be trusted to fight for” points corresponding to restricted authorities and robust nationwide safety.

Cheney’s father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, is one other vocal opponent of Trump. He referred to as the former president a coward and the biggest “threat to our republic” in historical past in a marketing campaign advert supporting his daughter’s main run. Liz Cheney stated that her father provided her a bit of recommendation on New Year’s Day this 12 months: “‘Defend the republic, daughter.’ And I will,” she stated.