Exclusive - Anthony Bouchard: Liz Cheney's Vote to Impeach Trump Led Me to Primary Her

Wyoming state Sen. Anthony Bouchard told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview at CPAC that Rep. Liz Cheney’s (R-WY) vote to impeach former President Donald Trump was the “straw that broke the camel’s back” to primary Cheney.

Shortly after Cheney announced she would vote to impeach Trump, Bouchard announced he will run against Cheney to represent Wyoming. Bouchard said he ran to better represent Wyoming’s conservative base.

Bouchard told Breitbart News Washington Political Editor Matthew Boyle although Cheney has represented Washington’s establishment class in Congress, her vote to impeach the 45th president created the impetus for him to primary Cheney.

“The establishment voting record is there, obviously that’s on the radar all along but to the impeachment vote, that started the ball rolling and obviously it was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Bouchard said. “The people are upset in Wyoming, the people want to be represented in Washington, and there’s an out-of-control mess in there, you noticed that it’s all fenced around the Capitol; it’s a constitutional crisis when people can’t be represented properly.”

Cheney’s vote to impeach Trump enflamed controversy throughout the House GOP Conference that she is supposed to represent. Although she survived a House GOP Conference vote to oust her as the third-ranking House Republican, she remains unpopular in her home state.

The battle between conservatives and Cheney subsided in the House until last week, when Cheney’s outburst, charging that Trump should not speak at CPAC nor should he lead the GOP, caused more divisions in the Republican Party.

Boyle noted that while House Republicans should have been focusing on messaging against the Equality Act, the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion coronavirus bill, Cheney launched a “personal crusade” against Trump by saying he should not attend CPAC.

Bouchard said this outburst confirms that she remains out of touch with the average conservative.

“She’s trying to grab the helm and turn it, and as you know, as the voters are holding the helm the other way. I just can’t imagine anyone that, unless she’s actually going to pull a Romney and run in Virginia. Because it seems to me that the northern Virginia climate, that’s where she’s represented, not Wyoming,” the Wyoming conservative said.

In contrast to Cheney, Bouchard said he is receiving an award at CPAC for his conservative accomplishments in the Wyoming state legislature.

“People are livid, and as far as the candidacy, there are people that are glad that I stood up. I’m here at CPAC because I’m getting an award for voting like a conservative, and I’ve consistently done that. And, I think people want that; there’s a reason they came so hard against me during my reelection. I’m a fighter; that’s who we need to send to Congress,” he said.

Bouchard said that if he got elected to Congress, he would focus on shrinking the D.C. bureaucracy and focus on a less interventionist foreign policy in line with Trump’s America First foreign policy vision.

“There’s been votes where she has taken the position not to cut spending, and not even a one percent cut. I’m the opposite of that position. I think we need to get Washington under control on spending, and bureaucracy keeps on growing. Let’s turn off the spigot,” Bouchard said.

“The thing with Syria, it just seems that Trump’s out of office, we’re going to go back to a default position of following the neocon movement, and we’re going to back into those areas and police the world. I think my position is closer to that of Rand Paul than what Liz Cheney desires,” he added.