WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Former President Donald Trump on Thursday endorsed Wyoming attorney Harriet Hageman’s bid to unseat U.S. Representative Liz Cheney, who was the highest-profile Republican to seek Trump’s removal from office on a charge he incited the U.S. Capitol riot.
“Unlike RINO Liz Cheney, Harriet is all in for America First. Harriet has my Complete and Total Endorsement in replacing the Democrats number one provider of sound bites, Liz Cheney,” Trump said in a statement, referring to Cheney as a so-called Republican In Name Only and calling her “disloyal.”
Cheney is up for re-election in November 2022 to a third two-year term as Wyoming’s only Congress member. She is a daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney.
Hageman was the fifth candidate Trump has backed to challenge a Republican congressional incumbent, part of his efforts to assert dominance over the Republican Party after losing his November re-election bid to Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump’s fire has been focused on the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach him on a charge of inciting insurrection in a fiery speech ahead of the deadly Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol by his supporters. He has also endorsed a challenger to Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, one of seven in her party who voted to convict Trump on the charge. He was ultimately acquitted.
(Reporting by Tim Ahmann and Jason Lange; editing by Susan Heavey)
