Cheney on having liberal Democrats as supporters: ‘I’m not choosy these days’

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) on Monday discussed her newfound support from liberal Democrats as she continues her crusade against former President Trump, saying she is “not choosy these days” about who is in her corner.

During an event at Syracuse University, Provost Gretchen Ritter asked Cheney, “As a lifelong Republican, how painful is it to have liberal Democrats in your fan club now?”

“I’m not choosy these days,” the Wyoming Republican responded, laughing herself and eliciting chuckles from the crowd.

Cheney has gotten praise from across the aisle in recent months, specifically after she criticized Trump’s claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and voted to impeach him following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

That stance got her ousted from her post as House GOP conference chairwoman in May 2021.

The three-term congresswoman has since dug in her criticism of Trump, particularly through her role as the vice chairwoman of the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot. She frequently uses the elevated platform to scrutinize the former president.

But the role as top GOP Trump critic also led her to be defeated in a reelection primary this summer against Trump-back candidate Harriet Hageman.

Before primary day, Cheney had been urging Democrats to switch their party affiliation and vote for her so she would prevail over Hageman. Her campaign website outlined instructions for how residents could change their party affiliation and participate in the GOP primary, and The New York Times reported that her campaign was sending mailers to Democrats in the state with information on voting in the GOP primary.

Two House Democrats — Reps. Dean Phillips (Minn.) and Tom Malinowski (N.J.) — cut ads for Cheney, urging members of their party to switch affiliations and vote for her.

While the strategy did not work to change the election results, the Times reported that voters at polling places in the Cowboy State were changing their affiliation.

Members of the Jan. 6 select committee have also praised Cheney.

On Election Day in August, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) on Twitter called Cheney a “constitutional patriot and able servant of Wyoming.”

Cheney on Monday, after remarking on Democrats showing her support, said members of the party on Capitol Hill “gave us in the House everything we wanted,” noting that Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) pulled GOP lawmakers from the panel.