Whether or not Donald Trump wins the 2024 election, he will undoubtedly be remembered for his major impact on the Republican Party. He broke with the establishment on issues ranging from tariffs to Middle East policy to the need for welfare reform. Moreover, his populist rhetoric is a far cry from the more polished manners of both George Bush Jr. and Sr, the two previous Republican presidents. For this reason many conservatives reacted with indignation when Trump was nominated in 2016. After all, what could a poorly spoken political outsider have to offer? The success of President Trump’s first term silenced many of these doubters. His tax cuts stimulated the economy and his aggressive instincts cowed our enemies. Moreover, despite questions about his social conservatism, he delivered a staunchly originalist Supreme Court that overturned Roe v. Wade. All considered, even his critics were forced to admit that he succeeded.
Nevertheless, some still cling to the idea that Trump is a deep threat to our republic. He ruffled many powerful feathers and dashed the ambitions of well-connected people. Despite being supposedly “low energy,” Jeb Bush is still an important member of a powerful American family. President Trump’s insults probably factored into George Bush’s decision not to endorse a candidate in this election. The one time influential Congresswoman Liz Cheney also saw her political career go up in smoke in response to Donald Trump’s tirades. For better or worse, her vote to impeach President Trump and her work on the politicized January 6 committee angered Trump and his allies. Apparently it angered the voters too. She lost her 2022 House primary by a nearly 30 point margin. Now she is actively campaigning against Donald Trump in support of Kamala Harris.
When Cheney initially lost her seat much of the conservative intelligentsia lamented the fact that a courageous stateswoman had been railroaded by Donald Trump’s antics. Implicit in their critique was the idea that the voters had been fooled. Apparently, Cheney was a principled conservative, unwilling to bend to the whims of a deranged president.
Cheney’s most recent actions reveal the falsehood of this view. Far from being a principled conservative, she is willing to sell out her ideals in a quest for revenge. Cheney recently endorsed Colin Allred in his race against Senator Ted Cruz. Before his senate run, Allred was a far left Congressman. His lifetime Heritage Action score is 2 percent, meaning that he almost never votes with conservatives. By contrast, Senator Cruz has a 92 percent score. In the past, Allred criticized President Trump’s immigration plans as “racist” and promised to tear down the border wall. Furthermore, in 2023 he voted no on the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act.” The Act was designed to prevent men from competing in girls’ sports. In short, Allred’s ideas are antithetical to everything Liz Cheney did in the past.
Indeed, Cheney’s support of Allred demonstrates that she is not a staunch defender of conservatism. Rather, she is willing to sell-out all Republicans in pursuance of a personal vendetta. If she truly wanted to revitalize conservatism she would not attempt to replace Senator Cruz with a radical leftist. Ultimately, Cheney’s recent actions reveal an important truth: Wyoming’s voters were right.
