House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy made history on Thursday by endorsing Rep. Liz Cheney’s primary opponent to represent Wyoming, attorney Harriet Hageman.
“After spending time with Harriet, it is readily apparent she will always listen and prioritize the needs of her local communities and is focused on tackling our nation’s biggest problems,” McCarthy told The Federalist. “I look forward to serving with Harriet for years to come.”
The endorsement from the party’s top lawmaker in the lower chamber comes after a long string of Cheney attacks on her colleagues and even her own constituents, resulting in numerous censures and demotions. She was stripped of her No. 3 role in House leadership last May in an overwhelming vote. Months later, she was censured by her own state party, which voted to no longer recognize its sole House member as a Republican. The RNC formally censured Cheney earlier this month and called on Republicans to abandon the incumbent lawmaker.
Cheney’s alienation from Republican voters is so stark that even The New York Times noticed, writing, she “hasn’t appeared at a state Republican Party function in more than two years and hasn’t been to an in-person event for any of the party’s 23 county chapters since 2020.”
