{"id":1318070,"date":"2022-02-20T11:16:28","date_gmt":"2022-02-20T16:16:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1318070"},"modified":"2022-02-20T11:18:43","modified_gmt":"2022-02-20T16:18:43","slug":"exclusive-gop-leader-kevin-mccarthy-endorses-top-cheney-opponent-harriet-hageman-in-wyoming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-gop-leader-kevin-mccarthy-endorses-top-cheney-opponent-harriet-hageman-in-wyoming\/","title":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy Endorses Top Cheney Opponent Harriet Hageman In Wyoming"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fexclusive-gop-leader-kevin-mccarthy-endorses-top-cheney-opponent-harriet-hageman-in-wyoming%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1318070&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/image-2022-02-17T151452.492-1024x576-1.png\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy made history on Thursday by endorsing Rep. Liz Cheney\u2019s primary opponent to represent Wyoming, attorney Harriet Hageman.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter spending time with Harriet, it is readily apparent she will always listen and prioritize the needs of her local communities and is focused on tackling our nation\u2019s biggest problems,\u201d McCarthy told The Federalist. \u201cI look forward to serving with Harriet for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The endorsement from the party\u2019s top lawmaker in the lower chamber comes after a long string of Cheney attacks on her colleagues and even her own constituents, resulting in numerous censures and demotions. She was <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/05\/12\/house-republicans-boot-warmonger-liz-cheney-from-party-leadership\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">stripped<\/a> of her No. 3 role in House leadership last May in an overwhelming vote. Months later, she was <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/01\/19\/wyoming-county-gop-unanimously-censures-liz-cheney-demands-she-appear-before-the-state\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">censured<\/a> by her own state party, which voted to no longer recognize its sole House member as a Republican. The RNC formally <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/02\/08\/the-rncs-censure-of-cheney-kinzinger-is-absolutely-justified\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">censured<\/a> Cheney earlier this month and called on Republicans to abandon the incumbent lawmaker.<\/p>\n<p>Cheney\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/02\/09\/liz-cheney-snubs-voters-to-mingle-with-reporters-instead-calling-constituents-crazies\/\">alienation from Republican voters<\/a> is so stark that even The New York Times noticed, writing, she \u201chasn\u2019t appeared at a state Republican Party function in more than two years and hasn\u2019t been to an in-person event for any of the party\u2019s 23 county chapters since 2020.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hageman met with McCarthy for 45 minutes in January, where she expressed her desire to better represent Wyoming voters. Specifically, she asked for an opportunity to serve on the Natural Resources Committee because of the myriad public lands issues of import to Wyoming voters. By contrast, although Cheney used to serve on the Natural Resources Committee, she no longer serves there, instead picking a committee to advance the beltway interests she\u2019s accused of representing in the place of Wyomingites.<\/p>\n<p>One of the many reasons Cheney lost the support of the Republican conference was because even though she was a member of leadership, she <a href=\"https:\/\/about.bgov.com\/news\/liz-cheney-donates-to-massie-opponent-after-forced-stimulus-vote\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">funded<\/a> the primary opponent of Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie in 2020. Usually such endorsements against sitting members are verboten for Republican leaders. Cheney, who donated the maximum amount to a candidate who eventually won just 19 percent of the vote against Massie, argued her decision to fund Massie\u2019s opponent was a \u201cspecial case,\u201d an argument her colleagues found unconvincing at best.<\/p>\n<p>But now Cheney is the \u201cspecial case,\u201d and McCarthy has thrown his support behind Hageman as House minority leader.<\/p>\n<p>As bad as Cheney\u2019s political instincts have been, her war with Republican voters has been good for her fundraising. The Wyoming lawmaker has already raised more than $7 million in the upcoming cycle, with nearly $5 million remaining in cash on hand, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opensecrets.org\/members-of-congress\/liz-cheney\/summary?cid=N00035504\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according<\/a> to OpenSecrets. The total sum is already more than Cheney raised in the prior two cycles combined.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s made this year\u2019s cycle so lucrative is Cheney\u2019s appeal to progressive blue-dollar donors eager to spend money on NeverTrump acolytes. <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/12\/14\/lincoln-project-donors-are-bankrolling-liz-cheney\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">According<\/a> to an analysis by The Federalist of campaign finance reports in December, Cheney has already raked in almost $55,000 for her competitive re-election bid from the same donors who bankrolled the left-wing Lincoln Project.<\/p>\n<p>Hageman, meanwhile, has built up local support and earned the endorsement of former President Donald Trump ahead of the August primary. While few think Cheney has a shot, her powerful coffers will be deployed until then.<\/p>\n<p>McCarthy\u2019s endorsement offers Hageman an opportunity to build resources that can compete with Cheney\u2019s nearly $5 million-dollar war chest. The minority leader throwing his support behind Hageman will now allow other members of the GOP conference to openly support Cheney\u2019s primary challenger with the blessing of leadership.<\/p>\n<p>A series of polls conducted since Cheney escalated her feud with Trump and the Republican voter reveal an incumbent congresswoman deep underwater in a state carried by the former president with a wider margin than anywhere else in the country. Out of <a href=\"https:\/\/thefdrlst.wpengine.com\/2021\/07\/30\/new-wyoming-poll-shows-more-trouble-for-liz-cheney\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">three surveys<\/a> conducted in the last election\u2019s aftermath, Cheney failed to garner more than 29 percent support among likely primary voters. The at-large congresswoman\u2019s support is far short of the <a href=\"https:\/\/ballotpedia.org\/United_States_House_of_Representatives_election_in_Wyoming,_2016\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">40 percent<\/a> vote share she captured in 2016 to secure her first nomination.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>Mollie Hemingway is a senior editor at The Federalist. Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy made history on Thursday by endorsing Rep. Liz Cheney\u2019s primary opponent to represent Wyoming, attorney Harriet Hageman.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cAfter spending time with Harriet, it is &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1318070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1318070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1318070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1318070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1318070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}