A Wyoming state representative’s Republican primary election opponent is calling out the incumbent’s past support of former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, whom Wyoming voters resoundingly rejected in the 2022 election.
“Who is Landon Brown?” reads a Tuesday Facebook post by Cheyenne-based Republican state Rep. Landon Brown’s primary challenger Exie Brown.
Exie’s post then points to a Feb. 12, 2022, CNN interview in which Landon appeared alongside interviewer Phil Mattingly to voice his support for Cheney and discuss a “fringe group” of “far-right conservatives in Wyoming politics.”
“Additionally in this interview, Landon Brown said he agreed with Cheney that some state GOP leaders have ‘abandoned the Constitution,’” reads Exie Brown’s post, which includes a video of the interview.
In the interview, Landon Brown also called Trump "unfit for office” based on Trump’s response to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach, and vowed to do everything in his power to help keep him out of the Oval Office again.
"Trump has hijacked the Republican party," Landon added in the interview.
‘Old News’
Wyoming voters rejected Cheney in a landslide in favor of Rep. Harriet Hageman in the 2022 election. Wyoming Republicans first turned on Cheney after she voted to impeach former President Donald Trump.
Trump had won Wyoming in 2020 with 70% of the vote.
Cheney also participated in a mostly-Democrat Congressional committee that investigated the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol.
In a Wednesday interview with Cowboy State Daily, Landon Brown called Exie’s Facebook post “old news” and questioned whether they’re relevant in 2024.
“Two years ago I ran unabashed as a supporter of Liz Cheney,” he said. “Has she done things since then I don’t agree with? Absolutely.”
For example, Cheney is still railing against Trump in what is starting to look like “almost a personal vendetta,” he said, adding that the nation should move forward from Jan. 6.
Cheney’s willingness to donate to Democrats also bothers him, Landon Brown said.
But he doesn’t back away from standing by her in 2022 and doesn’t regret doing so now, because he believes she defended the U.S. Constitution while in office, Landon Brown said. He also pointed to her conservative congressional record.
Cheney is essentially a non-entity in Wyoming politics now.
Landon Brown said he wants to focus on what Wyoming needs going forward — “not rehashing the past and looking back at who I supported two years ago.”
He also theorized that trying the “Cheney Card” against him won’t crush his odds of being reelected. When he ran as her ally in 2022, he had two primary challengers and still took more than 50% of the vote, he noted.
Exie Brown did not respond by publication time, to two Cowboy State Daily phone calls and one voicemail requesting comment.
Fealty Politics
Landon Brown characterized his opponent’s post as an attempt at broad-brushing him as less conservative because Landon Brown does not pay fealty to Trump.
He said he finds Trump’s policies “to be very good” and doesn’t think the nation would have done as well under Democratic leadership through COVID-19.
Yet he called into question the “almost … cult following” some conservatives have galvanized around Trump, and the personal edge Trump applies to foes and slights. Landon Brown said he reserves the right to disagree with Trump and any other political figure, and that he holds conservative ideals like small and non-intrusive government in higher regard than he holds Trump.
But Landon Brown said he’s also noticed a more-humble demeanor from Trump since a rooftop shooter at a Pennsylvania rally tried shooting the former president July 13.
“I actually respect the man a lot more after his demeanor change,” he said. “All in all, I think he’s a far better choice in our country than the Kamala (Harris) ticket.”
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
