Liz Cheney says she would campaign for Democrats
The Wyoming Republican, a Trump critic, made the comment in vowing to help defeat Arizona gubernatorial candidate and election denier Kari Lake
Sep. 25, 2022, 1:38 AM EDT
By Ali Vitali and Kyle Stewart
AUSTIN — Republican Rep. Liz Cheney said Saturday that she would be willing to campaign for Democrats as she criticized her party's acceptance of candidates who deny the results of the 2020 election.
“Yes,” Cheney said simply when asked if she’d be willing to stump for Democrats — the first time she’s said so explicitly.
Cheney made the remark in a discussion at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin while talking about Arizona gubernatorial candidate and election denier Kari Lake.
Cheney, who has been a vocal critic of former President Donald Trump, said “partisanship has to have a limit” and mentioned Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who has said he will campaign for Lake.
"He’s demonstrated that he’s somebody who has not bought into the toxin of Donald Trump — but he campaigned recently for Kari Lake, who’s an election denier, who is dangerous,” Cheney said.
"That’s the kind of thing we cannot see in our party. We cannot see an accommodation like that, and I think it’s very important that we be clear about that,” Cheney said.
Asked specifically if she’d campaign for Katie Hobbs — Lake’s Democratic opponent — Cheney said: “I am going to do everything I can to make sure that Kari Lake is not elected.”
Cheney, R-Wyoming, is on her way out of Congress, after she lost the Republican primary to a Trump-backed challenger in August.
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Youngkin at the Texas Tribune Festival on Friday defended campaigning for Lake. “I am comfortable supporting Republican candidates,” he said. “And we don’t agree on everything. I have said that I firmly believe that Joe Biden was elected president.”
Cheney at the event Saturday in Texas declined to offer many details about her own plans, including whether she will run for president.
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She also did not disclose much about plans of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, of which she is one of two Republican members.
The House committee is set to return Wednesday for its latest hearing.
Cheney did say that she does not think that the committee's hearings will conclude this week.
Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said last week that unless something else developed it would be the last, “but it’s not in stone because things happen.”
“We don’t anticipate that it will be the last hearing,” Cheney said.
Ali Vitali
Ali Vitali is a Capitol Hill correspondent for NBC News, based in Washington.
Kyle Stewart
Kyle Stewart is an associate producer covering Congress for NBC News.
Phil Helsel contributed.
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