Liz Cheney ‘Would Find It Very Difficult’ to Support DeSantis for President: He’s ‘Lined Himself Up Almost Entirely’ with Trump and ‘That’s Very Dangerous’

Sarah RumpfAug 7th, 2022, 7:23 pm
 
Liz Cheney during house select committee hearing on Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

Rep. Liz Cheney’s (R-WY) criticisms of former President Donald Trump are no secret, with her impeachment vote and involvement in the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, and she holds similar concerns about Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), telling The New York Times she “would find it very difficult” to support the Florida governor for president because of how he had “lined himself up almost entirely” with Trump.

Cheney, currently the underdog in the primary battle to retain her own congressional seat against Trump-endorsed challenger Harriet Hageman, is described by Times reporter Jonathan Martin as believing that “ridding American politics of former President Donald J. Trump and his influence” is “more important than her House seat,” skipping time on the campaign trail to work with committee members and staff on their ongoing investigations and series of hearings.

Martin reported that Cheney was not just “losing badly” to Hageman in the polls, she “has been all but driven out of her Trump-loving state, in part because of death threats.” Trump won 70 percent of the Wyoming vote in 2020, Martin noted, and compared Cheney trying to get GOP primary votes to “asking ranchers to go vegan.”

Cheney has rebuffed questions about switching parties, declaring herself to be a Republican even though she describes the party as “very sick” in a way from which she predicted it would not be able to recover for at least a few more election cycles.

When Martin asked her about the 2024 presidential election, Cheney responded that she still might support a Republican, but not anyone who refused to publicly acknowledge that Trump legitimately lost the 2020 election, and had this to say about DeSantis:

Asked if the ranks of off-limits candidates included Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, whom many Republicans have latched onto as a Trump alternative, she said she “would find it very difficult” to support Mr. DeSantis in a general election.

“I think that Ron DeSantis has lined himself up almost entirely with Donald Trump, and I think that’s very dangerous,” Ms. Cheney said.

Amanda Carpenter, Bulwark columnist and former adviser for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), posted a Twitter thread agreeing with Cheney’s “red line for 2024” rejecting DeSantis, and how “infuriating” it was that so many people claimed to want to do “something about the problem” regarding Trumpism, but invariably chose to “remain bystanders.”

This article has been updated to reflect that Carpenter is no longer a CNN contributor.

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Sarah Rumpf - Contributing Editor

Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law&Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe. Follow Sarah on Threads, Twitter, and Bluesky.