Politics
Trump arrives in Wyoming to rally for Cheney challenger Hageman
Cheney is a perhaps the No. 1 elected Never Trump candidate seeking office this election cycle
May 28, 2022 5:21pm
Updated: May 29, 2022 11:43am
President Trump will travel Saturday night to Wyoming to headline a campaign rally for attorney Harriet Hageman, his endorsed candidate in the state's GOP congressional primary to deny the reelection of incumbent Rep. Liz Cheney – a political nemesis who's largely considered this election cycle the GOP's unofficial Never Trump vote.
To be sure, Trump even before having in 2016 won elected office for the first time, has never been coy about singling out his political rivals, with Cheney being no exception.
Even before she voted to impeach Trump after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the former president had singled out Cheney for her non-support of his foreign policy, calling her a "warmonger." The moniker also seemed to have come from her being the daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney of the Bush administration that invaded Iraq in March 2003.
Trump moved to deny Cheney a fourth term shortly after she and nine other House Republicans voted last year to impeach him – endorsing Hagemen as a primary challenger, who's likely to keep the seat for the GOP considering Wyoming is among the most conservative-leaning states in the country.
Wyoming has only one House seat, so the hold represent the entire state.
The event in Casper on Saturday night is also scheduled to include Trump House GOP allies Reps. Matt Gaetz, of Florida, and Lauren Boebert, of Colorado.
Trump so far this midterm election cycle – which will determine whether the GOP can take control of the House and perhaps Senate – has had some big wins and loses.
While Cheney, who also helps lead the House Democrats' Jan. 6 investigative committee, is mostly unpopular within the House Republican Conference and among Trump supporters nationwide, she has support from state voters, as Wyoming's only House member, and she has a large campaign coffer.
However, a new survey on her August primary, commissioned by the conservative, anti-tax group Club for Growth, which is backing Hageman, shows her with 56% of the vote, compared to 26% for Cheney and 12% for state Sen. Anthony Bouchard.