Liz Cheney answers questions in her dressing room before her talk. Photo by Justin Cox.
Former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney gave a talk on May 1 at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts.
The talk, called “A Conversation with Liz Cheney,” was organized by UAA’s College of Arts and Sciences as part of its Community Lecture Series.
Cheney received a standing ovation when she took the stage in the Atwood Concert Hall.
Cheney, a conservative and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, lost her Wyoming congressional seat in 2022 after she voted to impeach Trump following the riot he inspired on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Elizabeth Arnold, a former NPR reporter and UAA journalism professor, joined Cheney on stage and interviewed her.
Cheney told Arnold, “I knew … my vote to impeach the president was not going to be popular with my constituents in Wyoming.”
Cheney was also one of two Republicans who served on the House Select Committee that investigated the attack.
Cheney said Republicans have rationalized their support for Trump, and she used Republican congressman Mark Green of Tennessee as an example.
She said Republicans were signing objections to certify votes in the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 from various states for the presidential election.
Cheney said Congressman Green “was signing his name to object to every one of these states’ electors ... As he got to the end, I was sitting there — and he knew my view — and he said out loud, ‘The things we do for the orange Jesus.’”
“I’ve wondered since then, did he know he was saying it out loud?”
Arnold asked Cheney why she decided to enter politics.
Cheney said she was motivated by her belief that she could accomplish things through discussing and debating policies. She said that is how our system of government works.
Cheney paid a compliment to Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
“I can not be here in Alaska and not mention the incredible courage of Senator Lisa Murkowski.”
According to NPR, Murkowski was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict President Trump on an impeachment charge for the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Arnold read a question from an audience member that asked if Cheney would run again for national office.
Cheney said, “I don’t know if I’ll end up being a candidate again myself, but it’s certainly not something I’m ruling out.”
The audience then broke into applause.
“Apparently I should move here to Alaska,” Cheney said in response, which encouraged additional cheering.
She said, “You have one good senator,” mocking Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan.
According to the Alaska Beacon, Sullivan has been supportive of President Trump since he returned to office.
Cheney criticized the Republican Party for bending to Trump.
“The party has abandoned, in my view, the principles it stood for and has instead embraced this loyalty test. It’s a personality cult,” she said.
“The Republican Party itself, right now, in the way its functioning and operating has really abandoned what should be the first and most fundamental obligation we all have, which is defense of the Constitution.”
Recently, Cheney has distanced herself from the Republican Party.
She helped former Vice President Kamala Harris campaign in the closing days of the 2024 election, and in an interview on Meet the Press, she described herself as a conservative rather than a Republican.
Arnold asked Cheney about her political alignment. Cheney said, “Well, I’m not a Democrat.”
Cheney then ignored a question about her support for Republican policies, despite her opposition to Trump.
Arnold asked, “What are the values and principles specific to the GOP that you still adhere to given all that you’ve been through?”
Cheney listed out a number of Trump’s policies she disagreed with but did not identify any specific policies that she adhered to with the Republican Party:
“Donald Trump is the President of the United States. He is the head of the Republican Party, and his policies are destructive and chaotic and anti-constitutional and anti-American. That’s what the Republican Party is today.”
“That is not a party that reflects where I think the country needs to go,” she said.
Before the talk started, Cheney spoke with The Northern Light in an interview.
Cheney said she sees her role at this moment is to speak out and get people involved in politics.
“I’m doing everything I can to help make sure people understand the danger we face,” she said, “and to encourage really good people to run for office and to encourage people to be civically involved and engaged and understand how important it is you don’t sort of sit on the sidelines.”
“We can’t sleepwalk down this path to authoritarianism,” she said.
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