Former President Donald Trump has endorsed a Republican primary challenger to Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, a vocal critic of the former president who voted to impeach him earlier this year.
In a statement Thursday morning, Trump said he is backing Harriet Hageman, an attorney and former Republican National Committee woman, for the GOP nomination in Wyoming’s lone House district.
“I strongly endorse Republican House of Representatives Candidate Harriet Hageman from Wyoming who is running against warmonger and disloyal Republican, Liz Cheney,” said Trump. “Harriet is a fourth-generation daughter of Wyoming, a very successful attorney, and has the support and respect of a truly great U.S. Senator, Wyoming’s own Cynthia Lummis.”
Cheney responded to the endorsement on Twitter: “Here’s a sound bite for you: Bring it.”
Hageman will officially enter a crowded Republican field Thursday afternoon with an announcement speech in Cheyenne, according to a statement from her campaign. Her previous electoral experience is a failed bid for the GOP nomination for Wyoming governor in 2018. Hageman also advised Cheney in her short-lived Senate race in 2013.
“Like many Wyomingites, I supported Liz Cheney when she ran for Congress,” Hageman said in her statement Thursday. “But then she betrayed Wyoming, she betrayed this country, and she betrayed me.”
Politico first reported Trump would likely endorse Hageman earlier this week.
Several other Republican candidates have already entered the race against Cheney, including state senator Anthony Bouchard and state representative Chuck Gray.
Trump has made denying Cheney the Republican nomination a priority for the midterm elections. Hageman is his fourth endorsement against a member of the Republican “impeachment 10” – the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump following the January 6 insurrection.
This story has been updated with additional developments Thursday.
