Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming, said former President Donald Trump “is at war with the rule of law and the Constitution” in a blistering New Hampshire speech Tuesday night that could signal a forthcoming White House run. (Watch above)

Cheney asserted that Trump is “a domestic threat that we have never faced before” because he’s “attempting to unravel the foundations of our constitutional republic.” She called the former president a “liar” who “tragically misled” Americans and “provoked violence.”

Cheney has been an outspoken critic of Trump – and the GOP politicians who support him – since the January 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol. She is one of two Republicans to sit on the House committee investigating that attack and she’s been jettisoned from GOP leadership. She voted for Trump’s second impeachment.

On Tuesday, during a speech at Saint Anselm College’s Institute of Politics, Cheney sounded like she was at war with her own party. She criticized “political leaders, who have made themselves willing hostages to this dangerous and irrational man.”

“I love my party. I love its history. I love its principles,” Cheney continued. “But I love my country more. I know this nation needs a Republican Party that is based on truth.”

“Will we put duty to our oath above partisan politics or will we look away from the danger and the threat, embrace the lies and enable the liar?” Cheney asked. “There is no gray area when it comes to that question, when it comes to this moment. There is no middle ground.”

“We need a Republican Party that is led by people who remember that the peaceful transfer of power is sacred,” she added. “We need Republican leaders who remember that fidelity to the Constitution, fidelity to the rule of law — those are the most conservative of conservative principles.”

“When our constitutional order is threatened, as it is now, rising above partisanship is not simply an aspiration. It is an obligation — an obligation of every one of us,” she said.

Cheney also blasted Republicans who’ve attempted to downplay the importance of Trump’s election lies and the January 6th riot.

“To those people I say, our institutions do not defend themselves. We, the people, defend them,” she said. “Our institutions held on January 6th because there were brave men and women, elected officials at every level of our government who did their duty, who stood up for what was right, who resisted pressure to do otherwise.”

Cheney was an equal opportunity critic, saying she disagrees “strongly with nearly everything President Biden has done since he has been in office.”

She added that she supports “limited government, low taxes, a strong national defense” and family values.

Cheney’s New Hampshire appearance raised eyebrows because the state will hold the first primary of the 2024 presidential campaign (Iowans will hold their caucuses a week earlier).

“The Cheney family knows the calendar and knows where it starts, and this is not a bad place for her to be,” Tom Rath, a former Republican national committeeman and veteran of New Hampshire GOP politics, told CNN. “Nothing that happens here is an accident.”
Rath added that Trump is still very popular in New Hampshire, so Cheney would have an uphill battle.
“But when we go through the ’22 cycle, and we begin to see whether those who are the most loyal or tied to him don’t do as well, electorally, as you might think, I think it will change,” he said.