Cheney's fate in Wyoming is a final test of Trump's hold over the GOP

Author: Editors Desk

August 16, 2022 at 08:23

Many Trump critics are expecting Cheney's remarks on Tuesday night, if she loses, to signal her intention to rally such an anti-Trump effort as a contender in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, and perhaps even into the general election as an independent candidate if the party nominates Trump again.

(CNN) - Rep. Liz Cheney's uphill battle to keep her seat in Wyoming's GOP primary on Tuesday underscores how Donald Trump's hold on the Republican Party is tightening even as the former President's legal challenges are mounting. That dynamic poses stark choices for the thin band of Republican elected officials and voters resistant to his dominance within the party.

If Cheney loses Tuesday, as expected, the result will place an exclamation point on a summer that has seen Trump-backed candidates, almost all of whom echo his falsehoods about the 2020 election, win most hotly contested party primaries. Virtually no GOP elected officials have dared to criticize him over damaging revelations either from the House select committee investigating January 6, 2021, or the Justice Department investigation of his handling of classified information.

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