Liz Cheney says Donald Trump would be afraid to debate her in 2024

Trump-backed candidate defeated Wyoming congresswoman in GOP primary on Tuesday

Liz Cheney says that Donald Trump and the GOP would likely work to keep her off the debate stage were she to run as a Republican in 2024.

She made the prediction on Sunday on ABC’s This Week, while entertaining speculation about her future political endeavours. Ms Cheney has openly hinted that she will run for president in 2024, but in her interview today cautioned that she would only do so if she thought there was an avenue to victory.

And part of the roadblocks in the way of that victory, she indicated, would be institutional resistance from the Trump-controlled wing of the Republican Party — which by all accounts includes the vast majority of its primary voting base.

“It sounds like the [Republican National Committee]’s already trying to find ways to keep you out,” suggested ABC’s Jonathan Karl.

“I can understand why they would not want me on a debate stage with Donald Trump,” she responded. “I would imagine Donald Trump isn't too interested in that either.”

Her remark is the first personal shot at Mr Trump she has taken since her Tuesday night defeat. Clearly expecting a loss, she rallied supporters on Tuesday evening with a condemnation of Donald Trump and what he stands for in the Republican Party, and in particular his lies about the 2020 election.

“This primary election is over,” Ms Cheney vowed on Tuesday. “But now the real work begins.”

She would not speculate on Sunday whether she would run as an independent in 2024 — such bids are rarely successful in any measure beyond temporarily raising the political profile of the candidate, if only for them to disappear into political obscurity in the years following.

A minor exception can be found in the career of Utah’s Evan McMullin, who after an unsuccessful independent 2016 bid for the presidency is now running for US Senate in Utah as an independent once again, though now with the state Democratic Party’s backing. He still faces a steep uphill battle to unseat Sen Mike Lee in November.

Ms Cheney was soundly defeated in her own election, and was down by more than 30 points when the race was called. Harriet Hageman, her opponent, currently sits at more than 66 per cent of the vote.

The Wyoming Republican will still likely have a significant effect on the November elections, as she remains vice chair of the powerful select committee investigating January 6 which has taken a public role in prosecuting Donald Trump in the court of public opinion.