Liz Cheney delivers Colorado College graduation speech as speculation about the GOP campaign continues
Former U.S. Representative Liz Cheney will give a graduation speech at her alma mater, an elite liberal arts college in Colorado, amid questions about her political future and insistence that Donald Trump never run for president again.
At the start of Colorado College on Sunday, the Wyoming Republican is expected to address themes similar to those she has promoted since leaving office in January: addressing her work on the House January 6 Select Committee that investigates did to the U.S. Capitol uprising and face the threat she believes Trump poses for democracy.
Cheney’s busy speaking schedule and topic have led to speculation over whether she will be allowed to run in the 2024 GOP presidential primaries. Stated or potential candidates ranging from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, have calibrated their comments about Trump, aiming to counter his attacks without alienating the supporters who won him the White House seven years ago.
While some have expressed measured criticism, no Trump challenger has embraced anti-Trump messaging to the same extent as Cheney. In her three terms in office, she rose to the No. 3 GOP leadership position in the House, a job she lost after voting to impeach Trump for the January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol and then failing to budge on her criticism of the former president.
“I feel very strongly about where the country needs to go, and I feel very strongly about how important it is that Donald Trump never runs for president again,” Cheney said at a March forum at Boston College.
She said she remained undecided about her political future, including whether to run for president.
Although she would face a tough battleCheney’s vehemently anti-Trump stance and her role as Vice Chair of the January 6 Select Committee increased her platform high enough to appeal to a national network of donors and Trump critics to support a campaign for the White House.
A super-PAC organized to support her candidacy has remained active, including buying attack ads on air in New Hampshire against Trump this month.
After leaving office and being replaced by a Trump-backed Republican who defeated After graduating from elementary school last year, Cheney was appointed professor at the University of Virginia and wrote “Oath and Honor,” a memoir that hits shelves in November.
Cheney graduated from Colorado College in 1988, and the Colorado Springs school is also her mother Lynne’s alma mater. Cheney is also a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School.
Students at Colorado College had a mixed reaction when she was named presidential speaker in March, including some who staged a small protest against her pre-riot voting record.
Cheney’s speech seems to be getting under way. She will appear at the Mackinac Policy Conference in Michigan on Thursday.
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Metz reported from Salt Lake City.