Never-Trump Lincoln Project calls Cheney's election loss 'the end of the Republican Party'

The Lincoln project has called US Rep. Liz Cheney’s primary loss ‘the end of the Republican Party’ as Democrats allies lash out against Trump-back winner Harriet Hageman. 

Cheney informed her supporters on Tuesday night that she had called Hageman and conceded the race, much to the dismay of the anti-Trump Super PAC The Lincoln Project. 

‘Tonight, the nation marks the end of the Republican Party,’ the group said in a statement. ‘What remains shares the name and branding of the traditional GOP, but is in fact an authoritarian nationalist cult dedicated only to Donald Trump.’ 

Former National Finance Chair Jon Cooper was among the prominent Democrats bemoaning the loss, but also warning Republicans that Cheney would remain in the national spotlight after she hinted at a 2024 presidential run against Trump in her speech. 

‘I hate to break this news to you, Donald, but Liz Cheney isn’t going anywhere,’ Cooper tweeted.  

Denver Riggleman, a former Democratic Congressman for Virginia, said that he was proud to serve with Cheney on the January 6 Committee and that the fight for American’s ‘integrity’ will continue.

‘An honor to serve with @RepLizCheney on the @January6thCmte Integrity and winning elections can be mutually exclusive and they often are. I know. I’ve been there. 

‘The fight continues,’ he added.  

Joe Walsh, a former Illinois congressman and presidential candidate, had echoed predictions that Cheney was bound to lose the primary, but noted that she did so with her honor intact.  

‘@RepLizCheney is going to lose tomorrow. By a lot. But she will lose with her honor & integrity intact,’ Walsh tweeted. 

‘She’ll lose as an American hero who defended her country & her Constitution. She’ll lose as a woman of immense courage, standing alone in a party of cowards. Thank you Liz.’

Star Trek actor George Takei, a vocal critic of Trump, praised Cheney and said he would look forward to her possible 2024 primary challenge against the former president. 

‘If Liz Cheney runs against Trump in the Republican primaries, she’ll be able to say what others won’t dare say: that Trump lost the 2020 election, lied to the nation about it, incited an insurrection, and is a continuing threat to our national security,’ Takei wrote. ‘I’m here for it.’ 

Adam Parkhomenko, a Democratic consultant and strategist, noted that Cheney’s battle in Wyoming played center stage in national politics given her role in leading the January 6 Committee.  

‘Two things worth remembering tonight: 1. Kevin McCarthy actively and publicly worked to remove Liz Cheney from Congress supporting her opponent, Parkhomenko wrote.

‘[Two]. Kevin McCarthy’s cell phone records are part of the ongoing Jan 6. Committee investigation.’ 

Senatorial hopeful Evan McMullin, of Utah, said that America would need Cheney in the future to ‘keep America strong.’  

‘Truth is a rare commodity in Washington. I commend @LizCheney’s courage to speak truth to power,’ McMullin wrote. 

‘We need more leaders that put country before party and build a coalition of principled patriots to protect our democracy and keep America strong.

In her concession speech on Tuesday in Jackson, Wyoming, Cheney made comparisons to President Lincoln, who lost a string of races before winning the White House.

‘Abraham Lincoln was defeated in elections for the Senate and House before he won the most important election of all,’ Cheney said.

Although hinted at presidential aspirations, the bulk of her time up on the podium was spent condemning former President Donald Trump, whose unfounded claims that the 2020 election was stolen she attributed to her loss. 

‘Two years ago, I won this primary with 73 percent of the vote,’ Cheney said as she recalled the pre-Trump political landscape. ‘I could easily have done the same again. The path was clear. 

‘But it would’ve required that I go along with President Trump’s lie about the 2020 election.. That was a path I could not and would not take.’ 

In her speech, Cheney warned Americans that Trump is not the choice for 2024, condemning the January 6 Capitol riot, of which she led the Senate hearings investigating the deadly violence. 

‘Our nation is barreling once again towards crisis, lawlessness and violence. No American should support election deniers for any position of genuine responsibility where their refusal to follow the rule of law will corrupt our future,’ Cheny said of the attack at the Capitol, which was conducted by Trump supporters.

‘Like so many Americans, I assumed that the violence and the chaos of that day would have prompted a united response… Instead, major elements of my party still vehemently defend those who caused it,’ she added.

She also called on people from all parties to unite against those denying the 2020 presidential results, saying that unfounded claims against America’s elections were an attack on democracy.  

‘This is not a game. Everyone of us must be committed to the eternal defense of this miraculous experiment called America.’ 

Trump lashed out at Cheney’s speech, reiterating his false claims that the election was stolen as he said it is her who is looming threat to democracy.    

‘Liz Cheney’s uninspiring concession speech, in front of a ‘tiny’ crowd in the Great State of Wyoming, focused on her belief that the 2020 Presidential Election was not, despite massive and conclusive evidence to the contrary, Rigged & Stolen,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social. 

‘It was, and that’s not even counting the fact that many election changes, in numerous States, were not approved by State Legislatures, an absolute must. 

‘Liz Cheney is a fool who played right into the hands of those who want to destroy our Country’! 

At the top of her concession speech, Cheney informed her supporters that she had called Trump-backed challenger Harriet Hageman and conceded the race – making the point that part of American democracy is ‘honorably’ accepting election results. 

Speaking to supporters at the Cheyenne Frontier Days Event Center, Hageman characterized her win as an effort to ‘dislodge entrenched politicians’ from Washington, D.C.’s ‘uni-party – those Democrats and Republicans who don’t really care which party is in power, just as long as they are.’ 

‘Wyoming has put the elites on notice,’ Hageman said, adding that if you want to represent the Cowboy State, ‘you damn better well live in Wyoming.’ 

She also thanked Trump for his early support – and used his trademark Apprentice line. 

‘If we put you in power you will be accountable … you will answer to us,’ she said. ‘And if you don’t, we will fire you.’  

Former President Donald Trump – who made Cheney his No. 1 2022 target – reveled in her loss. 

‘This is a wonderful result for America, and a complete rebuke of the Unselect Committee of political Hacks and Thugs,’ the ex-president said.

‘Liz Cheney should be ashamed of herself, the way she acted, and her spiteful, sanctimonious words and actions towards others,’ Trump continued. ‘Now she can finally disappear into the depths of political oblivion where, I am sure, she will be much happier than she is right now.’ 

‘Thank you WYOMING!’ Trump added.