Former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney called Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz “dangerous” for choosing to follow “whatever” former President Donald Trump wanted after the 2020 presidential election.
Cheney has become increasingly vocal about her disdain for Cruz ahead of the November election, in which Democratic Rep. Colin Allred is running to unseat Cruz. The former Wyoming congresswoman has also joined dozens of other Republicans, including her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, in endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election against Trump.
Speaking to ABC News affiliate WFAA on Tuesday, Cheney discussed her decision to endorse Allred over Cruz, a close Trump ally, telling the interviewer that in her mind, “the most conservative value of all is being faithful to the Constitution and doing your duty to defend it.”
“And you know, when I looked at the kinds of things that we saw Ted Cruz do after the 2020 election, in particular, his willingness to do whatever Donald Trump wanted him to do … it’s just, it’s just dangerous,” Cheney continued, referring to Cruz’s efforts to push Trump’s baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen from the former president.
“These jobs really do matter, and in this race, I want to do everything I can to help ensure that the people of Texas elect Collin Allred,” Cheney added.
As a spokesman for a Republican Senate contingent, Cruz said before Congress certified the 2020 election results that he planned to reject electors from some states where there were allegations of voter fraud. Cruz stood by his decision on January 6, 2021, and opposed the certification of Arizona’s electoral votes before a mob of Trump supporters violently stormed the U.S. Capitol in a failed attempt to stop the proceedings.
Cheney served on the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack, which ultimately recommended that the Justice Department launch an investigation into Trump’s activities surrounding the riot.
In an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins in May, Cruz would not say whether he would unconditionally accept the results of the 2024 election, calling it a “ridiculous question.”
“We have a complete system of electoral law: people contest elections, elections are overturned, voter fraud is proven,” Cruz said. “It happens all the time.”
After being pushed again by Collins, Cruz said that “if the Democrats win” in November, “I will accept the result, but I will not ignore the fraud no matter what.”
Newsweek reached out to Cruz’s office for comment Tuesday night.
Polls have shown Cruz with the edge over Allred, though a recent poll from Texas Public Opinion Research showed the race is tightening. In a survey of 800 voters, Allred trails Cruz by 4 points (47% to 43%). The poll’s margin of error, however, is 3.5 percentage points, meaning the candidates could very well be deadlocked.
RealClearPolling reveals that as of September 5, Cruz leads in polls by an average of 6 percentage points.
