Cheney not ruling out White House bid

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said she is not ruling out running for president. 

“I’m not ruling anything in or out — never is a long time,” Cheney told the New York Post when asked if she would ever consider running in the future. 

As for the 2024 Republican primary for president, Cheney said the party has “a huge number of interesting candidates” and predicted the GOP is “in a good position to be able to take the White House” in four years.

But she took a shot at possible GOP contenders such as Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Josh Hawley (Mo.), though she did not mention either by name, by criticizing Republicans who voted against certifying the results of the Electoral College last year.

“I do think that some of our candidates who led the charge, particularly the senators who led the unconstitutional charge, not to certify the election, you know, in my view that’s disqualifying,” said Cheney, who voted to impeach former President Trump for inciting the mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6.

“I think that adherence to the Constitution, adherence to your oath has got to be at the top of the list,” she said of what Republican voters will be looking for in their next nominee for president. “So, I think, you know that certainly will be a factor that I’m looking at and I think a number of voters will be looking at as they decide about ’24.”

The congresswoman has been a sharp critic of former President Trump and her Republican colleagues who have been loyal to him since the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. 

A reporter asked Cheney at the House Republicans’ policy retreat in Florida what role she would like to see Trump play in the 2022 midterm election cycle. 

“I think right now, the Republican Party is headed by Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy in the House,” she said. “I think our elected leaders, you know, are the ones who are in charge of the Republican Party.” 

McConnell (R-Ky.) is the Senate GOP leader, while McCarthy (R-Calif.) leads the House minority. 

Recent polling shows a substantial majority of Republicans voters support Trump and his policies. 

Cheney is up for reelection in 2022 and faces a primary challenger from the political right. 

“My primary is clearly going to be an important one — I am more than happy anytime and any place to debate anybody who wants to about what happened on Jan. 6 and why our oath of office requires that we make sure that that never happens again,” she told the Post. “And I feel confident about prevailing in my primary.”