Cheney: Trump’s Endorsement of Hageman “Sad”

"The notion that candidates have felt that they needed to go to New Jersey to pledge their allegiance to Donald Trump, rather than to the people of Wyoming and the Constitution is really sad to see," she said.

JO
Jimmy Orr

September 10, 20213 min read

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This could be a real throwback campaign. A Schoolhouse Rock campaign. A campaign that takes us all back to the late 1700s when the nation was formed.

In a phone call with Wyoming reporters on Friday, Congresswoman Liz Cheney was clear that the discussion of the Constitution and the importance of adhering to it would be a central part of her upcoming 2022 re-election bid.

That along with a focus on her conservative record (she voted with President Trump 92.9 percent of the time) and her accomplishments for the citizens of Wyoming.

But it was the topic of the Constitution where she drew a big difference between herself and Hageman, a Wyoming attorney.

She said both she and Hageman had taken oaths. Her oath when she became a member of Congress. Hageman’s when she became a member of the Wyoming Bar.

Only Cheney has adhered to their respective oaths, she said.

“She [Hageman] is now abandoning that principle, sacrificing her oath, abandoning her duty to the people of Wyoming — in order to pledge loyalty to Donald Trump,” Cheney said.

“She seems to be stepping into the shoes of people like Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, two attorneys who recently have been sanctioned by the courts for lying about the election,” she said.

Cheney said it was “tragic to see that kind of opportunism” and was “inconsistent with Wyoming values.”

In that vein, she also expressed concern with the chairman of the Wyoming Republican Party, Frank Eathorne, for also putting loyalty, she said, to the former president above the Constitution mentioning that he expressed support for secession following the Capitol riots of January 6.

“I think that’s really dangerous, anti-conservative, and frankly, a move away from the Constitution,” she said.

Eathorne’s comments about secession occurred while appearing on former Trump advisor Steve Bannon’s radio show. It led one state legislator, Rep. Landon Brown, to call for his resignation.

Cheney lumped Hageman into the Eathorne camp on Friday again using the word “dangerous” to describe the proclivity to elevate a person above the Constitution.

“They’ve put loyalty to that person, I include Harriet Hageman, and a number of my other opponents in that category, above their duty to the Constitution. And that is a very dangerous and indefensible position to have taken,” she said.

“We don’t take an oath to any individual person,” she said.  “We swear an oath under God to the Constitution.”

As for Trump’s endorsement of Hageman, Cheney called the whole process of interviewing with the former president in hopes of receiving an endorsement “sad.”

“The notion that candidates have felt that they needed to go to New Jersey to pledge their allegiance to Donald Trump, rather than to the people of Wyoming and the Constitution is really sad to see,” she said.

None of Cheney’s other opponents were mentioned during Friday’s call. 

Since Trump’s endorsement of Hageman on Thursday, two candidates have dropped out. Gillette veteran Denton Knapp and state Sen. Anthony Bouchard vowed to stay in the race while state Rep. Chuck Gray told Cowboy State Daily he will make an announcement next Tuesday.

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JO

Jimmy Orr

Executive Editor

A third-generation Wyomingite, Jimmy Orr is the executive editor and co-founder of Cowboy State Daily.