Cheney "Considering 2024 Presidential Run"... Moves to Block Trump's White House Return

Representative Liz Cheney of the Republican Party
[Photo by AP]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Liz Cheney, a Republican House member known as the biggest intra-party rival of former U.S. President Donald Trump, has announced that she is considering running for president in the 2024 election. Given the low likelihood of winning the party primary, this move is interpreted as an effort to prevent former President Trump from returning to the White House. Attention is focused on whether this will affect the influence of Trump’s faction, which has been strengthening its support within the Republican Party following the FBI’s search and seizure.

On the 17th (local time), Cheney said on NBC’s Today show, “I am thinking about it and will make a decision within a few months. My priority will be to do whatever it takes to keep Donald Trump from entering the Oval Office.” Her remarks came just one day after she lost in the Wyoming Republican primary.

As a prominent anti-Trump lawmaker, she strongly criticized Trump’s refusal to accept the 2020 election results, which led to her removal from the position of Chair of the House Republican Conference, the third-highest ranking in the party. She also served as vice-chair of the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot, aggressively holding former President Trump accountable for the incident.

The Washington Post (WP) predicted that if a Republican primary is held ahead of the 2024 presidential election, Cheney currently has little chance of gaining traction based on polling results. Although she received 3 out of 10 votes in the Wyoming primary, her support was only 14% in a YouGov poll of Republicans nationwide. In another survey conducted on the premise of the 2024 Republican primary, Cheney’s support was as low as 3%.

A major foreign news outlet reported that within the Republican Party, there is a sentiment that Cheney knows she cannot defeat former President Trump in the primary but is declaring her candidacy to act as a thorn in Trump’s side. WP noted that Cheney, as vice-chair of the January 6 committee, “is the person who has studied lawsuits related to former President Trump more than anyone else. While she may not prevent him from being nominated as the Republican presidential candidate, she could influence the election.”

Ahead of the U.S. midterm elections in November, Republican lawmakers who supported Trump’s impeachment have repeatedly faced defeat. When the Democrat-led House passed the impeachment resolution against then-President Trump in January last year over responsibility for the January 6 Capitol riot, 10 Republicans, including Cheney, voted in favor. Of these, only two lawmakers have passed their primaries ahead of the November midterms.

For former President Trump, the FBI’s search of his residence has sparked backlash among Republican supporters, strengthening his position within the party alongside confirming his influence through the primary. Although he suffered setbacks due to unfavorable testimonies and circumstantial evidence emerging from the House January 6 investigation hearings, the search has helped consolidate his support base. Republican strategist John Thomas told WP, “Former President Trump has a firm grip on Republican voters, and if he decides to run as the 2024 Republican presidential candidate, it is possible.”