Former Rep. Liz Cheney once again used her national platform over the weekend to remind voters that House Republicans cannot be trusted to be responsible stewards of the U.S. Constitution.
In a discussion on ABC’s “This Week,” reporter Jonathan Karl noted that fielding so many third-party candidacies next year could produce a situation where no single presidential candidate reaches 270 electoral votes to claim a decisive win. In that situation, Karl pointed out, the question of who becomes president goes to the House of Representatives.
Cheney responded, “I expressed my view that having Mike Johnson as speaker, and having this Republican majority in charge, you can’t count on them to defend the Constitution at this moment.”
While promoting her new book, “Oath and Honor,” Cheney has been explicit about the threat that House Republicans and Speaker Mike Johnson pose to the republic.
Last week on CBS, Cheney said, “We are facing a situation with respect to the 2024 election where it’s an existential crisis, and we have to ensure that we don’t have a situation where an election that might be thrown into the House of Representatives is overseen by a Republican majority.”
The theme came up again in Cheney’s “This Week” interview because she has said she is weighing a third-party bid for president next year.
“I haven’t ruled anything out,” she told Karl Sunday. “I really am going to take the next couple months and look at what is going to be the most effective path to ensure the defeat of Donald Trump.”
But Cheney also added, “Certainly, I’m not going to do something that has the impact of helping Donald Trump.”
Although it is likely useful for Cheney to suggest she is weighing a third-party run, nothing at the moment suggests she is interested in making a vanity run. She has no campaign staffers, no visible ground game, and has made no serious effort toward getting on the ballot, as New York Times reporter Robert Draper has noted.
All signs continue to suggest Cheney is deeply invested in stopping Trump and his Republican allies from shredding the Constitution, and that the whole of her energies will be dedicated to that cause.
