In her last ad of the primary election cycle, Wyoming’s U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney never directly asked people to vote for her. She does ask them to join in her fight against former President Donald Trump.
“We are stronger, more dedicated, and more determined than those trying to destroy our Republic,” Cheney said in the ad released last Thursday. “This is our great task and we will prevail. I hope you will join me in this fight.”
Trump is the focal point of the commercial, and in many ways, has been the focus of her entire U.S. House reelection campaign. Cheney has repeatedly referred to standing up for the Constitution as her motivation to speak out against Trump while representing a state he won by a larger margin than any other in the 2020 election.
The ad is called “The Great Task,” sharing a similar title to the Great Task Political Action Committee, which has raised money on her behalf during the current campaign.
In the ad, Cheney criticizes Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
“America cannot remain free if we abandon the truth,” Cheney said. “The lie that 2020 presidential election was stolen is insidious. It preys on those who love their country.”
Never mentioned in the commercial is Cheney’s lead opponent, Harriet Hageman.
Hageman has been endorsed by Trump and has fully embraced his platform, recently announcing for the first time at a forum that she believes the 2020 election was rigged.
““Absolutely the election was rigged. It was rigged to make sure that President (Donald) Trump could not get reelected,” Hageman said during the event hosted by the Natrona County Republican Women Aug. 3.
Choosing to not mention one’s opponent, while referencing a third party not running in the race, is a mostly unprecedented political move, particularly in a candidate’s final messaging of their campaign.
Cheney has spoken against Trump since he started questioning the results of the 2020 election. She is currently serving as vice chair of the Jan. 6 Committee.
“I will work everyday to ensure that our exceptional nation long endures,” Cheney said in the ad. “My children and your children must grow up in an America where we have honorable and peaceful transitions of power. Not violent confrontations, intimidation, and thuggery.”
Towards the end of the two-minute-and-20-second commercial, Cheney tries to bridge a connection with Democrats and Independents for her cause.
“No matter how long we must fight, this is a battle we will win. Millions of Americans across our nation – Republicans, Democrats, Independents – stand united in the cause of freedom,” she said.
Cheney has been encouraging Democrats to change their party affiliation to vote for her in the Republican primary.
A recent University of Wyoming poll shows that she has been unsuccessful with gaining the support of a large majority of Independent voters, a demographic UW Political Science professor Jim King finds key to her chance of reelection.
Last week on Fox News the Cheney team started airing a different ad. It featured an endorsement from her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney. In the ad, Dick Cheney refers to Trump as a “coward.”
“It’s important not only for Fox News viewers, but for the network’s hosts and top executives, to hear former Vice President Cheney’s warning about the ongoing danger Donald Trump and his lies pose to our constitutional republic,” Cheney spokesman Jeremy Adler said in a press release.
