If you need an illustration of the long-lasting political effects of the riot at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 – and the false claims of Donald Trump, about the legitimacy of the 2020 election, that preceded it – look no further than the fate of Liz Cheney.
The three-time congresswoman from Wyoming, the least populous state in America and one of its most staunchly Republican, was crushed in the party’s primary by a challenger endorsed by the former president. Harriet Hageman, who is now expected to be the state’s lone representative in the lower chamber of Congress during the national midterm elections in November, has echoed Trump’s claims about widespread voter fraud in 2020.
Cheney, who won 73 per cent of the vote the last time the primary was run two years ago, is the daughter of Dick Cheney, the former vice-president. Cheney herself has said that she would likely have been locked in to return to Congress if she had fallen in line with Trump’s fanciful version of events. “The path was clear. But it would’ve required that I go along with President Trump’s lie about the 2020 election. It would’ve required that I enable his ongoing efforts to unravel our democratic system and attack the foundations of our republic. That was a path I could not and would not take,” Cheney said during her concession speech.
