In the Wyoming twilight, Liz Cheney stood on a ranch.

Before the final votes were counted, she conceded defeat in the state primary.

The Republican, who has represented Wyoming in the House of Representatives since 2017, had to know what to expect.

Last year she voted to impeach Donald Trump.

She is also the vice chair of the commission of inquiry into the storming of the Capitol — one of two Republicans on the nine-member committee.

She has chaired the public meetings several times in recent months.

In them, the committee showed how Trump accepted violence to stay in power.

Sofia Dreisbach

North American political correspondent based in Washington.

  • Follow I follow

In Wyoming, the influence of the former president on the Republican Party was once again evident on Tuesday.

It wasn't just about the victory of Trump-backed candidate Harriet Hageman.

It was also about how much Republican voters would punish Trump critic Cheney.

The response in conservative Wyoming, where seventy percent voted for Trump in 2020, was clear.

Two years ago, the 56-year-old Cheney had 73 percent of the vote.

On Tuesday it was just under 29 percent - and 37 percentage points behind the clear winner Hageman.

In her speech, however, Cheney was combative.

Their goal, now more than ever, is to prevent Trump from becoming president again.

It was clear how she could have kept her seat in the House of Representatives again, she said - spreading Trump's "lie about the 2020 election."

But no post is more important than "the principles we are all sworn to protect".

America, said the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, is once again "rushing toward crisis, lawlessness and violence."

Cheney is the fourth Republican representative to lose her seat in the House of Representatives in the primary after voting to impeach Trump last year.

Cheney voted against it in the first trial in 2019.

"Our nation must not be ruled by a mob"

In her speech, the Republican also referred to last week's search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.

Trump "specifically and viciously" released the names of FBI officials involved in the searches.

"No patriotic American should condone or be intimidated by these threats," Cheney said.

"Our nation must not be ruled by a mob that was called up via social media." The work, she called to her campaign team, is far from done.

She will do "everything" to prevent Trump from returning to the White House.

Cheney is apparently toying with the idea of ​​running as a presidential candidate himself.

She will make a decision about this in the coming months, she said on NBC.

On Wednesday, the news platform "Politico" reported, citing a spokesman for Cheney, that it would now devote more attention to the fight against Trump.

In the coming weeks, Cheney will set up an organization that will "educate Americans about the ongoing threat to our republic" and unite forces "to oppose every presidential campaign by Donald Trump."

Hageman, Cheney's challenger in Wyoming, was previously little known outside of Wyoming.

During the election campaign, she took advantage of the anger of Trump supporters and drummed the narrative of the “stolen election” for herself.

Hageman is an attorney working for the New Civil Liberties Alliance in Washington, which writes of itself as protecting "constitutional liberties from government abuses of power."

A few days before the election, the 59-year-old Hageman had told voters that the government in Washington "must be made largely irrelevant in our everyday lives".

In her jubilant victory speech, Hageman said Wyoming spoke on behalf of all who understand that their government is a government of the people.

Hageman's victory over Cheney, who comes from a powerful political family with close ties to the Bush-era party establishment, reflected the transformation of Republicans.

It now focuses on candidates emphasizing their loyalty to Donald Trump, even if not every candidate supported by the former president was successful in the primaries.

Cheney reiterated in her Tuesday night speech that she was a "conservative Republican."

Then, in the style of a candidate for the highest office, she addressed all citizens of her country: "Let us resolve that we will stand together - Republicans, Democrats, Independents - against those who want to destroy our country."