Representative Liz Cheney (R., Wy.) says she is “not going to rule anything in or out” when it comes to a potential 2024 presidential bid.
“Ever is a long time,” Cheney said in an interview with the New York Post that was published Monday.
Cheney, the third-ranking GOP lawmaker in the House and a vocal critic of former President Trump, also told the outlet that while she believes Republicans could take back the presidency in 2024, she thinks lawmakers who supported his effort to overturn the 2020 election results should be disqualified from running.
“I think we have a huge number of interesting candidates, but I think that we’re going to be a in good position to be able to take the White House,” she said.
“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,” said Cheney, the daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney.
Cheney was one of only ten House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in January for “inciting an insurrection” after a mob of his supporters rioted at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 in an attempt to stop the congressional certification of President Biden’s election win.
After her vote to impeach, Trump allies in the House sought to remove her from her role as House Republican Conference Chair, though the effort was ultimately unsuccessful.
However, attacks from Trump and his allies do not seem to have wounded Cheney, who reported a record $1.54 million in donations to her 2022 re-election campaign from January to March, the first quarter of fundraising.
While Trump still has a loyal following among Republican voters — a survey by Echelon Insights last month showed 60 percent of Republican respondents would “definitely” or “probably” back the former president in a GOP primary if it were held today — on Monday, Cheney noted that the party is headed by Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell and House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, not the former president.
“I think as we look at ’22 and ’24. we’re very much going be focused on substance and on the issues, and I think that’s where we’ve got to attract back to the voters that we lost in 2020 by conveying to them that . . . we are the party that they can trust. We’re the party of competence and of conservative principle,” she said.
Cheney joins a growing pool of potential 2024 GOP candidates, which includes Trump, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Florida governor Ron DeSantis, South Dakota governor Kristi Noem, and Senators Marco Rubio (Fla.), Rick Scott (Fla.) and Tom Cotton (Ark.).
In the Echelon Insights poll, 17 percent of Republican respondents said they would vote for DeSantis in 2024 if Trump does not run, while former Vice President Mike Pence received support from 16 percent of respondents.
