Sure, she may have lost the GOP primary for her House seat by a whopping 37 points, but Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney is a modern-day colossus of democracy.
Just ask Cheney, who quite improbably compared herself to Abraham Lincoln in her concession speech. Of course, you didn’t need the candidate to fawn over herself, because the media was more than willing to do it for her.
Case in point: Geraldo Rivera, Fox News’ token lefty, who lauded Cheney’s “selfless courage” in running her campaign into the ground. It was enough that fellow Fox host Greg Gutfeld dismantled him for celebrating Cheney’s “selfish desires,” the ultimate cause of her loss.
On Tuesday night, shortly after it became clear Cheney would lose the race to challenger Harriet Hageman, Rivera took to social media to praise the defeated candidate, one of two RINOs on the Democrats’ Jan. 6 committee.
“Whatever your politics, we should all recognize Liz Cheney’s selfless courage in standing up to the Trump tidal wave,” Rivera said.
“Wyoming Republicans are going to end her Congressional career today, but nothing will wash away the role she played standing up for democracy and the Constitution.”
Whatever your politics, we should all recognize Liz Cheney’s selfless courage in standing up to the Trump tidal wave. Wyoming Republicans are going to end her Congressional career today, but nothing will wash away the role she played standing up for democracy and the Constitution
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) August 16, 2022
Of course, these aren’t necessarily the priorities of the Wyoming voters Rivera was implicitly shaming, as Gutfeld pointed out.
Should Liz Cheney have been voted out?
“[S]crew what millions of voters care about: crime, inflation, the border, bureaucracy & covid -we really should rally around a rich elite who’s settling an emotional score,” he wrote in response to Rivera.
“NO- her selfish desires killed her political career, as it should. its the opposite of selfless, & she paid.”
screw what millions of voters care about: crime, inflation, the border, bureaucracy & covid -we really should rally around a rich elite who’s settling an emotional score. NO- her selfish desires killed her political career, as it should. its the opposite of selfless, & she paid. https://t.co/gMSTCMSJBB
— GregGutfeld (@greggutfeld) August 18, 2022
Precisely. Cheney thought the election was a referendum on Donald Trump’s position in the Republican Party. That’s not what people in Wyoming cared about, though.
The western state only sends one representative to the House. They have a variety of needs that have to be addressed, particularly regarding agriculture and fuel prices.
Instead, Cheney’s campaign was about three things: Donald Trump, Donald Trump and more Donald Trump.
If this were a nationwide popularity contest, that would have won the day. Cheney’s certainly become a sensation among media types, who are feting her for the time being because she’s a useful cudgel to use against the former president.
However, Cheney needed to win over Wyoming Republicans. Instead, she so alienated them that she couldn’t even manage 29 percent in what turned out to be a two-person race between her and Hageman.
This wasn’t about “selfless courage.” It was about selfishness and national profile, plain and simple.
Cheney has refused to rule out a run for president, which is a good sign she’ll be putting her hat in the ring in 2024. Let’s hope national Republicans feel the same way about her that Wyoming conservatives — and Greg Gutfeld — did.
