Liz Cheney said she could have easily won her primary if she went along with Trump's false claims about the election

• Rep. Liz Cheney was defeated in the GOP congressional primary in Wyoming Tuesday.

• In the speech, she criticized the election "lies" of Donald Trump.

• She presented her loss as a price she paid for being one of the few Republicans to oppose Trump.

Rep. Liz Cheney said Tuesday that she could have won re-election in Wyoming if she had gone along with former President Donald Trump's false claims of election fraud.

But, she said, it was not a price she was willing to pay.

Cheney made the remark in a defiant concession speech after being defeated by Harriet Hageman, a Republican endorses and aided by Trump in her battle against Cheney.

"Two years ago, I won this primary with 73% of the vote. I could easily have done the same again. The path was clear, but it would have required that I go along with President Trump's lie about the 2020 election," said Cheney in her concession speech.

"It would have required that I enabled his ongoing efforts to unravel our democratic system and attack the foundations of our republic. That was a path I could not and would not take."

Cheney continued: "No House seat, no office in this land is more important than the principles that we are all sworn to protect. And I well understood the potential political consequences of abiding by my duty.

"Our republic relies upon the goodwill of all candidates for office to accept honorably the outcome of elections. And tonight, Harriet Hageman has received the most votes in this primary. She won. I called her to concede the race. This primary election is over. But now the real work begins."

Hageman, like all candidates to win Trump's approval, is a vigorous advocate of his debunked claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him by electoral fraud.

Insider's election partner, Decision Desk HQ, projected Tuesday night that Hageman would beat Cheney. With almost all votes counted, Hageman was the decisive victor with 66.3% of votes to Cheney's 28.9%

Cheney has long been a foe of Trump. She voted for his impeachment in the wake of the January 6 riot at the US Capitol, and is one of two anti-Trump Republicans on the House committee investigating the events of that day.

Trump had poured resources into ousting Cheney from her congressional seat, which covers the whole of Wyoming, the least populous US state. She had held the seat since 2017.

Cheney's defeat is the biggest triumph for Trump to date in his efforts to purge the party of those who oppose him personally, or who have argued against his election-fraud conspiracy theories.

Trump gloried in Cheney's defeat, posting a string of jubilant messages on his Truth Social website, including the prediction that Cheney would now "disappear into the depths of political oblivion."

In her speech, Cheney warned of the impact of Trump's divisive rhetoric on America and said she would continue to oppose him out of office.

"Our nation is barreling once again towards crisis, lawlessness and violence," she said. "No American should support election deniers for any position of genuine responsibility."

Cheney said she "will do whatever it takes to ensure Trump is never again anywhere near the Oval Office. And I mean it."

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