Republican Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney said it “would be very difficult” to support Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis if he were to run for president in 2024.
Cheney appears to be in deep water in her state’s upcoming primary election beginning with her vote to impeach former President Donald Trump and her role on the January 6 Select Committee. Being a strong opponent of the former president, she told the New York Times that DeSantis’ politics are “very dangerous.”
“I think that Ron DeSantis has lined himself up almost entirely with Donald Trump, and I think that’s very dangerous,” she said in the interview published Sunday.
Trump and DeSantis have continuously stood neck-in-neck in polls on voters’ preferences to be the Republican presidential nominee in the next election. A Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) poll found that Trump led DeSantis in voters’ most favorable preference to be the nominee, where he garnered 69% support. The Florida governor came in second, attaining 24% favorability.
Other polls have shown DeSantis leading Trump in hypothetical races, including a survey of hypothetical New Hampshire voters. The governor garnered 39% favorability while Trump earned 37%.
“I would much rather serve with Mikie Sherrill and Chrissy Houlahan & Elissa Slotkin than Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, even though on substance certainly I have big disagreements with the Democratic women“— @RepLizCheney
via @NYTimeshttps://t.co/sVg77byIUP
— Jonathan Allen (@jonallendc) August 7, 2022
After being ousted from her role as the House GOP conference chair, Cheney told reporters in 2021 that she will “ensure that the former president never again gets anywhere near the Oval Office.”
The Wyoming representative told the New York Times that she has no interest in changing parties, though she believes the GOP has become “very sick.” She said she could support a Republican in 2024, but will not back a candidate who denies the results of the 2020 presidential election. (RELATED: Rep. Liz Cheney She Will ‘Continue To Be Very Involved’ Even If She Loses Primary)
In the interview, Cheney stated that the GOP “is continuing to drive itself in a ditch,” and she thinks “it’s going to take several cycles if it can be healed.”
Cheney told the Times she prefers working with Democratic women with national security backgrounds rather than those of her own party.“I would much rather serve with Mikie Sherrill and Chrissy Houlahan and Elissa Slotkin than Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, even though on substance certainly I have big disagreements with the Democratic women I just mentioned,” Cheney added. “But they love this country, they do their homework and they are people that are trying to do the right thing for the country.”
A Star-Tribune poll released in July found Cheney’s primary opponent, Harriet Hageman, leading her 52% to 30%. The poll surveyed 1,100 registered Wyoming voters between July 7 and July 11 with a 3% margin of error.