Establishment Media Put Positive Spin on Liz Cheney’s ‘Likely’ Loss on Tuesday

The establishment media on Monday propped up Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) before her “likely” loss on Tuesday against Trump-endorsed Harriet Hageman.

Acknowledging that Wyoming voters will vote Cheney out of office on Tuesday, the establishment media did what they could to put a positive spin on Cheney’s reelection prospects. If she loses, she would be the eighth pro-Trump impeachment Republican out of ten to exit Congress in 2022.

“Liz Cheney’s political life is likely ending — and just beginning,” the Washington Post titled its Monday article on the election between Cheney and Hageman.

“Cheney is clear-eyed when it comes to her chances of actually winning the presidential nomination in a party that is still so loyal to Trump, according to friends and advisers,” Paul Kane of the Post claimed. “She sees her future role similar to how she views the work of the Jan. 6 committee: Blocking any path for Trump back to the Oval Office,” Kane said, adding, “Traditional conservatives opposed to former president Donald Trump have already discussed the possibility of Cheney running for the White House.”

Politico published the title “Cheney’s next mission: Keeping her anti-Trump megaphone.” The article praised Cheney as an “unrivaled megaphone” of “Trump opposition,” though “the political consequences will be evident on Tuesday.”

“Cheney’s mission of stopping Trump at all costs necessarily requires her to remain relevant in the national conversation. She’s recently started acknowledging the likelihood of losing her seat — an outcome that she forcefully dismissed a year ago,” the article read.

“I don’t think Liz is going to disappear,” Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) told the publication, hinting that Cheney may run for president in 2024.

The Associated Press hyped Cheney on Monday as “principled” and potentially willing to lose on Tuesday to have the moral authority to launch a presidential campaign in 2024.

“Cheney’s best hope is that enough Wyoming Democrats will switch parties to vote for her instead of their own party’s three candidates — none of whom stands a chance in November’s general election,” Will Weissert wrote for the AP. “Even Cheney’s close allies say she might be putting principle above success in this race. … That has fueled speculation that Cheney is hoping for something bigger, and she’s refused to rule out a 2024 presidential run.”

The New York Times framed Tuesday’s election as a nostalgic passing of an era from a “substance-oriented brand of politics” to an America First politics. “In Wyoming, Likely End of Cheney Dynasty Will Close a Political Era,” the Times headlined.

“As Ms. Cheney faces a near-certain defeat on Tuesday in her House primary, it is the likely end of the Cheneys’ two-generation dynasty as well as the passing of a less tribal and more clubby and substance-oriented brand of politics,” the Times’s Jonathan Martin claimed. “It’s not mere clout, however, that traditional Wyoming Republicans are pining for as they consider their gilded past and ponder the state’s less certain political and economic future.”

“Before Tuesday’s election, which is likely to propel Harriet Hageman, who is backed by former President Donald J. Trump, to the House, the nostalgia in the state is running deeper than the Buffalo Bill Reservoir.”

Hageman is leading Cheney by 57 points among likely Republican voters. Polling that includes independents and Democrats additionally shows Hageman leading Cheney by huge margins of 30 points, 28 points, and 22 points.