(Ezekiel Loseke, Headline USA) Following Tuesday’s decisive primary defeat of NeverTrump RINO Liz Cheney, left-leaning Politico gave the top six news slots on its app to the ousted Wyoming congresswoman.
The positive press was unparalleled for a winner of a GOP House primary, let alone one who received less than a third of the vote in the bid to defend her House seat.
Cheney received 28.1% of the vote her primary, losing to Trump-backed candidate Harriet Hageman, who won 66.3% of the vote.
Many of the stories in Politico and other mainstream media outlets promoted Cheney as a likely Republican presidential candidate in 2024.
“Liz Cheney closed one chapter of her public life and opened another with a history-heavy speech Tuesday,” said one Politico story.
Another article covered Cheney’s concession speech, noting, “The fierce Trump critic made clear she has no plans to leave the stage.”
Others fantasized about a possible Cheney third-party run, splitting the Republican vote.
“The 56-year-old could also take a page from the H. Ross Perot playbook, mounting a third-party campaign in hopes of drawing away voters from Trump,” said one article.
Politico also hedged its bets with an opinion piece by National Review Editor Rich Lowry, who said a Cheney run would benefit former President Donald Trump.
“[S]he has undoubtedly cut herself off from the possibility of having a positive influence on the direction of the Republican Party via electoral politics,” wrote Lowry. “If she runs for president, either in a GOP primary or as an independent in a general election, the effort will be nugatory at best, and possibly quite destructive.”
While many articles speculated on Cheney’s post-congressional prospects, others focused on her rivalry with Trump, using the Jan. 6 committeemember to insinuate that the GOP had been hijacked by the former president.
“The former president’s operation executed an unusually disciplined political strategy to defeat his Republican nemesis in her House primary,” said one article.
