Former Republican Representative Liz Cheney drew a large crowd at a recent talk in Iowa, suggesting that the frequent Donald Trump critic could still give the former president headaches.
Cheney, who was one of two Republicans on the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, gave a talk at Drake University’s Knapp Center in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday night that appeared to have been attended by thousands of people.
The former Wyoming representative has made defeating Trump in November her top priority, recently launching a political action committee to prevent him from re-entering the White House.
While Cheney’s talk took place in an area of Iowa that leans Democratic and voted for Joe Biden over Trump 56-41 percent in 2020, the fact she drew a significant crowd was still noted on social media.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
There have also been other signs that Trump, the presumptive 2024 GOP candidate, is struggling to gather sufficient support from more moderate Republican voters which he will need in the general election.
Heath Mayo, founder of the conservative group Principles First, which voices concerns about the “direction of our existing conservative leadership,” posted on X, formerly Twitter, while sharing a video of Cheney’s crowd: “Looks like a lot of #PrinciplesFirst folks are out in force in Iowa tonight.”
X user Mark Miller wrote, “I looked online & this event is just Liz Cheney speaking. I get that Des Moines is Blue but that many people to hear her on a Wednesday night!?! All those people are definitely voting in Nov. Donny is in trouble in Iowa which he won by almost 9% in 2020.”
Ron Filipwoski, a former federal prosecutor and frequent Trump critic, wrote while sharing a photo of the crowd in Iowa: “Well, they had a good time mocking her after the 37 people in the WY GOP primary voted her out. Now she will spend the next 6 months talking to moderate Republican voters in swing states that Trump said he doesn’t need.”
During the talk, Cheney warned against Trump winning the 2024 election in November.
Well, they had a good time mocking her after the 37 people in the WY GOP primary voted her out. Now she will spend the next 6 months talking to moderate Republican voters in swing states that Trump said he doesn’t need. https://t.co/7nyLnNYYqt
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) March 28, 2024
“We know [Trump] tried once not to leave office, and he will have no incentive to guarantee a peaceful transfer of power and to leave office should he be elected again,” Cheney said, according to the Des Moines Register.
“As frustrated as I know people get sometimes with policy disagreements you might have—and I certainly have policy disagreements with the Biden administration—I know the nation can survive bad policy. We can’t survive a president who is willing to torch the Constitution.”
Newsweek reached out to Trump’s office via email for comment.
In a statement, Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann suggested that Cheney “feels more at home on a liberal college” than she does speaking to Republican voters.
“Cheney has done nothing but deceitfully push an agenda, tear at the fabric of our party, and alienate GOP members,” Kaufmann said.
“The only people who listen to Liz Cheney are woke liberals, who were the ones leading the charge against her father a few decades ago. What a joke.”
Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, left office in January 2023 after losing her GOP primary to Trump-endorsed candidate Harriet Hageman in August 2022.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.