Liz Cheney: Democracy Is Doomed Under a Second Trump Presidency

Rep. Liz Cheney shared her fears that another Trump presidency could be the death knell for democracy.

“He cannot be the next president because if he is, all of the things he attempted to do but was stopped from doing by responsible people around him — at the Department of Justice, at the White House counsel’s office — all of those things he will do. There will be no guardrails,” the former congresswoman and member of the Jan. 6 committee said Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union.

“After Jan. 6, after our investigation, after all of the evidence that we laid out about all of the steps and his multi-part plan to overturn the election, there could be no question that he will unravel the institutions of our democracy,” Cheney added.

Cheney and host Jake Tapper also discussed Trump’s ongoing legal woes, including a recent fine he incurred for violating a gag order in his New York fraud trial and threatened with jail time if he violates the order a second time. Trump, unable to keep a single thought to himself, was fined $5,000 when he failed to remove a Truth Social post from his campaign website that attacked one of Judge Arthur Engoron’s clerks, claiming the clerk was Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s “girlfriend.”

“Almost without exception, the Judiciary has just been stalwart in terms of recognizing and understanding the threat to the republic that is posed by Donald Trump’s past behavior, by what he did leading up to Jan. 6, and frankly what he’s continued to do,” Cheney said. “It’s really important that people recognize the efforts he’s putting in to tear down every institution of our democracy.”

Cheney also attacked Republicans in Congress like Rep. Jim Jordan who have perpetuated “the notion that the entire judiciary system, the FBI, is weaponized against us.”

“We’ve got Republicans saying, ‘We’re going to defund the FBI. We’re going to defund the Department of Justice,'” Cheney said, naming Jordan as one example. “That is very dangerous.”

Jordan last week lost his bid to become House speaker in humiliating fashion following the far right wing of the party’s ouster of former GOP speaker Kevin McCarthy.

“I feel like it is almost disqualifying amongst House Republicans to be reality-based,” Tapper said to Cheney.

“Well, that’s been my personal experience,” the former congresswoman responded.

When Tapper questioned Cheney about her future plans, including if she intends to launch a presidential run, Cheney said that is one option on the table.

Cheney said this election cycle she would help to elect “sane” people from both parties to office. She said it’s crucially important to send officials who are loyal to the Constitution in case of a nightmare scenario where the election between Trump and another candidate is so close that it is sent to the House of Representatives to decide.

“We have to elect people who believe in the Constitution,” she said.

“You’re not ruling out a presidential run?” Tapper asked Cheney.

“No, I’m not,” she said.

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