Former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney was the featured speaker at last week’s Carroll School of Management’s Clough Colloquium. This event, held twice a year at CSOM’s Winston School of Leadership & Ethics, brings together professionals from various national and international fields to share insights about their careers and society at large. On March 23, an overflowing crowd gathered in the Heights Room to watch the former Congresswoman answer preselected questions crowdsourced from the student body.
Liz Cheney represented Wyoming in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2017 to 2023. Serving as the Vice Chair of the House committee, the congresswoman was most recently involved in the investigation of the Capitol Insurrection occurring on January 6, 2021. Cheney also became known for her outspoken opposition against former President Donald Trump, as well as her criticism of members of the Republican party who spread misinformation about the 2020 election results being rigged. Many attribute Cheney’s loss in the 2022 primary elections to her role in this investigation, as she was replaced as Wyoming’s representative by the Trump-endorsed Republican candidate Harriet Hageman.
Cheney began by speaking about her experience being in the Capitol on January 6 and her reason for joining the committee investigating the insurrection. She said, “If you look at what most Republicans were saying in the days just after January 6, there was agreement about what had happened and agreement, including then-Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, saying that Donald Trump bore responsibility for what happened that day. And then as the days went on, […] people began to walk away from that initial understanding of what happened.” Cheney courageously stood firm and went against her Republican colleagues to protect the democracy that was challenged by insurrectionists and election deniers. Advocating for a peaceful transition of power to President Biden, Cheney passionately spoke out against the false claims that the 2020 election was rigged.
Throughout the colloquium, Cheney returned again and again to the idea that Donald Trump posed a danger to the United States. She called him a threat to democracy, saying, “He is the most serious domestic threat and the single most dangerous individual in terms of threatening our Republic, and I don’t say that lightly.” These anti-Trump statements were met with roaring applause and affirmations from much of the audience.
Cheney has a long history and career with the Republican party. Her father, Dick Cheney, served as the Vice President under George W. Bush for two terms and was seen as conservative on almost all political issues. Cheney herself chaired the House Republican Conference, which is the third-highest position in House Republican leadership, from 2019 to 2021. She also historically voted with the Republican party on a variety of issues. In fact, according to a statistic from FiveThirtyEight, Cheney voted with Trump around 93% of the time. Despite this significant percentage of agreement on issues, she is steadfastly against Trump and election deniers.
Cheney gave hope to future bipartisan leadership as the lecture progressed, emphasizing the importance of having people on all parts of the political spectrum engaging in debate. She advised the audience to “take great care of who we entrust in power,” and spoke about the significance of staying informed as a civic duty. She talked about reading news from a variety of sources and maintaining a critical and truth-seeking perspective about issues. She also praised the “heroes” of the January 6 hearings, such as Rusty Bowers, Brad Raffensperger, and Cassidy Hutchinson, all Republicans who testified against the insurrection or stood up against Trump to defend the legitimacy of the 2020 election. Cheney and these others were unwavering in their personal morals, speaking out when they believed something was wrong, even if others did not, despite the risk to their reputations or careers.
Following the series of questions from the moderator, the audience was invited to directly question former Representative Cheney. One audience member inquired about the Republican Party’s future, as he identified as a conservative but was losing faith in the party. Cheney expressed concern about the party’s direction, particularly if Trump is elected in 2024, and stated that “the party will [soon] make itself unfit for decent people to support.”
Another attendee asked Cheney if she identified with the party anymore, which she answered by saying the Republican party of today doesn’t reflect the values it once did. She did not deny the possibility of one day becoming independently affiliated. Cheney holds many stereotypically conservative values but seems more progressive in certain areas. She is “strongly pro-life” and adamantly defended the U.S.’s decision to invade Iraq as a matter of national security, issues that Democrats historically have been against. However, she also called for Congress to work on issues of racism and anti-Seminism in the country, supported efforts to aid Ukraine, and praised Dr. Anthony Fauci. She also has mixed voting records regarding same-sex marriage and gun control. Cheney is clearly not blindly following the current Republican party on all topics, given the direction the party is moving on certain partisan issues.
Cheney frequently spoke directly to students and young people in the audience, calling on them to be conscious voters and to get involved in politics on all sides. She emphasized the importance of the free press as a fundamental right and how to use it as a resource to stay educated as a conscious consumer of media. Finally, she was asked the big question about someday running for President, to which she answered, “I haven’t made any decisions about that, but I feel strongly about the direction this country needs to go in.”
Communication major, avid romcom watcher, and Whole Foods sandwich enthusiast.
