Shortly-former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) has been abandoning the GOP for some time now, and not just by voting for articles of impeachment for then-President Donald Trump. She also irritated other Republicans, including her own voters, which is why she lost her primary by nearly 40 points. Cheney continues to show that she has no qualms about throwing Republicans under the bus, and the latest evidence is her endorsement of Rep. Tim Ryan, the Democratic candidate to replace retiring Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH).
Cheney’s remarks, referred to as Andrew J. Tobias reported for Cleveland.comappeared earlier Tuesday during her talk with Judy Woodruff at Cleveland State University.
“I wouldn’t vote for [Republican Senate nominee] J.D. Vance,” Cheney told Woodruff, who also told the reporter that “I would” when asked if he would vote for Rep. Ryan if he were a registered voter in Ohio.
As if that wasn’t enough, the Tobias report mentions that Cheney is now heading to Michigan, where she will campaign for another Democrat she endorses, Rep. Elissa Slotkin.
lol I think what I love most about all of this is that Liz Cheney is so blinded that she actually thinks her support will benefit anyone. https://t.co/Mek07t8l4r
— Andrew Surabian (@Surabees) November 1, 2022
The thing is, Cheney is NO registered voter in Ohio. She has very little influence there. At an event in Avon, Ohio, that Townhall attended in September, Vance made it clear that he cares about what local voters in Ohio think.
That sentiment was echoed in a statement Vance’s campaign sent to Cleveland.com. “This election will be decided by the people of Ohio, not by the swamp creatures in DC. Liz Cheney’s endorsement is the kiss of death for Tim Ryan and will cause him to lose far more votes than he gains,” the campaign was quoted as saying.
Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), writing on Twitter from his campaign account, recalled past statements by Rep. Ryan, who has sought to portray himself as a moderate and “independent voice of Ohio.”
Calling into MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” in September, ironically trying to portray himself as someone who would work on the other side of the fence, Rep. Ryan said we need to “kill and confront this movement” of so-called “extremist Republicans,” comments he doubled down on when confronted with them in later debates with Vance.
NO ONE should be surprised that Liz Cheney is endorsing Tim Ryan. Tim Ryan is a RADICAL who said we need to “KILL THE MAGICIAN”. Cheney and Ryan are two peas in a pod. Good thing they are both OUT OF CONGRESS soon!!
— Ronny Jackson (@RonnyJacksonTX) November 1, 2022
Vance is the favorite in this race against Ryan, who has been largely neglected by the Democratic Party. Forecasters see race as “Lean Republican”. This includes Decision Desk HQ, what gives Vance 76.6% chance of winning. RealClearPolitics (RCP), which calls the race “Leans GOP” and predicts a “GOP Hold,” shows Vance with +2 lead. Some polls showed a tie between Vance and Ryan, but Ryan was not leading in the polls RCP had been using since September.
