'Wyoming has spoken!' Trump-backed candidate Harriet Hageman gives rousing victory speech after clobbering Liz Cheney in Wyoming's GOP primary, moments after Cheney compared herself to Abraham Lincoln during concession speech
- Rep. Liz Cheney lost her Republican primary to Trump-backed challenger Harriet Hageman Tuesday in Wyoming - but hinted at a future presidential run
- During a concession speech in Jackson, Cheney made comparisons to President Abraham 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 noted
- Hageman characterized her win as an effort to 'dislodge entrenched politicians' from Washington, D.C.'s 'uni-party,' and said it put 'elites on notice'
- Trump reveled in Cheney's loss, saying on Truth Social that she 'should be ashamed of herself'
Trump-backed House hopeful Harriet Hageman spoke to supporters in Cheyenne Tuesday night after she clobbered Liz Cheney in Wyoming's Republican primary. She said: 'Today, Wyoming has spoken.'
She 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.'
Moments before, in her concession speech, Cheney hinted at a future presidential run, making comparisons to Abraham 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 noted.
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.'
Lawyer Harriet Hageman delivers a victory speech Tuesday in Cheyenne. She said her win 'has put elites on notice'
Harriet Hageman (right) waves to her supporters from onstage her event in Cheyenne alongside her husband John Sundahl (left)
Republican Rep. Liz Cheney said Tuesday night that she called and conceded the Wyoming primary race to the Trump-backed Harriet Hageman
Mary Fichtner, Hageman's college best friend who has volunteered with the campaign, holds a poster during the primary election night party of the GOP winner
Former President Donald Trump reveled in Rep. Liz Cheney's loss - as he had made the impeachment backer and January 6 committee member his No. 1 2022 target to take out
Harriet Hageman's supporters cheer Tuesday night at her victory party in Cheyenne
Harriet Hageman R | 113,025 votes | 66.3% |
Liz Cheney (i) R | 49,316 votes | 28.9% |
Anthony Bouchard R | 4,505 votes | 2.6% |
Denton Knapp R | 2,258 votes | 1.3% |
Robyn Belinskey R | 1,305 votes | 0.8% |
'Thank you WYOMING!' Trump added. It was obvious from early returns from the ultra-red state that Cheney was toast.
She first trailed Hageman by nine points - and then by 25. When NBC News and other outlets started calling the race for Hageman, Cheney was behind by more than 30.
Hageman's supporters - a number of them sporting cowboy hats - gathered around barrels decorated with cowhides and lassos munching on charcuterie platters or waiting for drinks at corner bar as Tucker Carlson's Fox News program played on large TVs.
At one point, Another One Bites the Dust, played loudly. The crowd cheered when favorable returns were shown on the TVs.
'Today we have succeeded at what we set out to do - we have reclaimed Wyoming's lone Congressional seat for Wyoming,' Hageman said.
She 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.'
Donald Trump Jr tweets meme of Cheney serving his father at McDonald's
Donald Trump Jr. led the flood of Republicans celebrating his father's rival Liz Cheney's primary loss as he tweeted a meme of her serving the former president a McDonald's meal with a sign saying: 'Now hiring RINOs.'
Representative Cheney, 56, lost her Republican primary to Trump-backed challenger Harriet Hageman on Tuesday in Wyoming - but hinted at a future presidential run.
The former president's son was the first to jump online to poke fun at her lost, writing: 'Liz Cheney really compared herself to Lincoln…LMFAO. That CNN & MSDNC fluffing really got to her carpetbagger/warmonger head.'
He also posted a clip of a man with his father's head on it dancing, writing: 'Bye, bye, @Liz_Cheney. On the bright side, at least you won't have to pretend to be from Wyoming anymore.'
Wyoming Republicans DailyMail.com spoke to Tuesday outside Cheyenne's historic Storey Gymnasium had all voted for Hageman - with a lone Democrat saying he chose to stick with his party, and not cross over to bolster Cheney's chances.
Wyoming voters can switch political parties the day of the election. They can also vote at any polling place, but have to show identification.
'Well first of all she should represent her constituents, and she's not clearly - because that's why she's getting voted out - but secondly here's the reality, she didn't grow up in Wyoming,' said 58-year-old Cheyenne resident Roger Forystek, who works in insurance.
'And furthermore, she's kind of a spoiled brat, in my opinion. She's a spoiled brat. She's so used to getting her way, when she doesn't, she's throwing a tantrum,' Forystek added.
Hats and other campaign swag were on display at Harriet Hageman's primary campaign headquarters at the Cheyenne Frontier Days Event Center, where cow hides and lassos were used as decor
Voters line up outside the Storey Gymnasium, the Central High School facility that's listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Cheyenne Tuesday. Every Republican voter DailyMail.com spoke to at this polling place was backing Harriet Hageman
Former President Donald Trump (center) held a rally for Harriet Hageman (left) in late May and called into a tele-rally for her Monday night where he railed against Rep. Liz Cheney
A hand-painted sign in Casper, Wyoming that stands in opposition to the re-election of Rep. Liz Cheney, the most prominent GOP Trump critic in the House of Representatives
Tacy West, a 77-year-old from Cheyenne, had an even harsher take on Liz.
'She acts crazy. You look at her eyes and she's not there,' West added.
A local pastor, who asked not to be named because of his line of work, told DailyMail.com that his vote for Hageman 'was to spank Cheney.'
'She's being sent to the principal's office,' he said.
Cheney has become the most prominent House Republican critic of Trump - currently serving as vice-chair of the House select committee on January 6.
She's paid a price - losing her No. 3 leadership position in the House Republican Conference and was expelled by Wyoming's Republican Party, as the state's voters in 2020 had voted Trump over President Joe Biden by about 43 points.
For 20-year-old University of Wyoming student Abby Humble, who backed Hageman, it's Cheney's style. "I don't really think that's what the people of Wyoming wanted ... because a lot of them are, you know, Trump supporters. I think she's being a voice for herself and her own political agenda."
Wyoming voters stand in front of a polling place a the Old Wilson Schoolhouse Community Center in Wilson, Wyoming on Tuesday
Another anti-Liz Cheney sign appeared on a billboard outside Cheyenne. Polling last week showed Cheney 29 points down in the pivotal primary race
Trump put his whole weight behind the race - vowing to get revenge for Cheney's criticism, impeachment vote and top role on the House select committee on January 6.
'If Liz Cheney loses tonight, the Fake News Media will do everything within their power to play it down and pretend that it was not a referendum on the Unselects - That it was no big deal. Actually, it would be a very big deal, one of the biggest!' he wrote on his Truth Social website Tuesday in the hours before Wyoming's polls closed.
On election eve, Trump called into a tele-rally for Hageman and called the race 'one of the most critical primary elections in the history of our country.'
'The whole world is watching this one,' the former president said.
He called Hageman a 'person I've gotten to know very well' and a 'friend.'
Then he turned his attention to Cheney.
'This is your chance to send a message to the RINOs and the fake news media, the radical left lunatics, that we have unfortunately too many in our country, and you're going to elect Harriet, and you're going to tell warmonger Liz Cheney - so bad, so negative - Liz, you're fired,' Trump said.
Trump said that 'few members of Congress in history have personally caused more damage to our republic than Liz Cheney.'
'The Democrats use her for sound bites, they like to say 'Republican Liz Cheney' and then they go into these horrendous anti-Republican, anti-country sound bites,' Trump said. 'It's been a disaster.'
'She's aided and abetted the radical Democrat Party in their unhinged, lawless and dangerous witchhunt - a witchhunt that never ends,' the former president complained.
He added that Cheney's pushed a 'phony' and 'grotesquely false and fabricated hysterical partisan narrative' about what happened on January 6.
'Liz should be ashamed of herself': Trump calls for Cheney to 'disappear into political oblivion'
Donald Trump lashed out at Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney following her massive primary loss Tuesday, going so far as to tell the lifelong political scion that she 'should be ashamed of herself' for her campaign performance.
Trump celebrated the news in a late-night Truth Social post, gleefully stating his hopes that she 'will finally disappear into the depths of political oblivion.'
The former President also called Cheney's 30-point loss on Tuesday a 'complete rebuke of the Unselect Committee of political Hacks and Thugs,' referring to the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot and its members.
He also declared Cheney's involvement in the investigation 'spiteful and sanctimonious' and signed off the post, saying: 'Thank you Wyoming!'
Donald Trump slammed Rep. Liz Cheney's loss - as he had made the impeachment backer and January 6 committee member his No. 1 2022 target to take out
Hageman held a rally with Trump in late May, and appeared alongside Donald Trump Jr. in June.
'You have been the best president in my lifetime in addressing the regulatory burden we deal with,' she told Trump Monday night.
That specific praise comes from her career as a lawyer, often fighting government regulations and environmentalists
"Democrats don't want voter ID laws 'because they want to cheat. Because that's what they do." Trump grumbled.
'Trump was the greatest president of my lifetime, and I am proud to have been able to renominate him in 2020. And I'm proud to strongly support him today,' Hageman added.
Hageman hugs her sister-in-law, Lee Hageman after arriving at her watch party on Tuesday in Cheyenne
Hageman tweeted this photo of her when she was 'state sweetheart'
Hageman was born into a Wyoming farming background and grew up on a ranch near Fort Laramie.
She obtained her bachelor of science in business administration in 1986, and a juris doctor from the University of Wyoming College of Law in 1989.
She worked in the private sector in Wyoming, Nebraska and Colorado over the next few years and served as a law clerk and federal appeals judge.
Her specialism is natural resources, and she went on to co-found Wyoming Conservative Alliance in 2004. They reportedly sought to 'increase public participation at both the state and federal regulatory level'. Hageman became well-known for her legal work.
Her most significant victory was in 2003, when she managed to win an injunction on Clinton-era federal regulations to protect millions of acres of National Forests from road-building, mining and other development.
She also represented groups that sought to remove protections for the gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act.
Hageman has long fought for states to have control over more land, rather than the feds.
"She has a long reputation among the conservation and sportsman groups of being an anti-federalist, particularly when it comes to ownership of land."
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