Wyoming kills bill backed by Donald Trump Jr. in attempt to defeat Liz Cheney

The son of the ex-president has increasingly attacked the House’s third Republican since she voted to impeach her father after the deadly attack on the Capitol. Cheney called the actions of the then president around January 6 a “betrayal” of his oath to the constitution, and said the former president should not play “a role in the future of the party or the country”.

In January, Trump Jr. called for an anti-Cheney demonstration led by Florida deputy Matt Gaetz, urging Republicans to unite around a single candidate to challenge it. And in March, Trump Jr. publicly pressured state senators on the committee working on the project, tweeting their email addresses to his 6.8 million followers.

“Any Republican in Wyoming who follows Liz Cheney’s orders and opposes SF145 is turning his back on my father and the entire America First movement,” Trump Jr tweeted.

Gray told CNN that he supported the legislation “because Wyoming deserves the ability to choose between the two best candidates for the job.”

“Liz Cheney’s betrayal of our Wyoming values ​​is a clear indicator that run-off elections are necessary,” he added. “It is no wonder that his team is working behind the scenes to eliminate this legislation.”

Before the vote on the bill, a spokesman for Cheney told CNN that he “trusts the state legislature to do what is right for Wyoming” and that “neither she nor her allies are trying to influence the state legislature over a bill.” one way or another. “

But despite Trump Jr.’s efforts, a Wyoming state Senate committee amended the bill so that it would not go into effect until 2023, when some lawmakers pushed to give county secretaries enough time to adapt.

Wyoming State Representative Dan Zwonitzer, a Republican co-sponsor of the legislation, doubted it passed this year, telling CNN that the state needed more time to fully understand the cost and impacts of moving the primaries from August to May. , and creating a new runoff election. Zwonitzer also said that national attention has placed lawmakers in a difficult position.

“When Republican national politics comes to Wyoming, it divides even more and creates these same difficulties for us,” he said. “Now, suddenly, the bill will be seen as ‘Are you loyal to Trump or not?'”

“These strange tests of purity are going to start taking place and it’s just more division that we don’t need in the Republican Party or Wyoming,” he added.

Proponents of the bill now say the fight for it will advance to next year’s legislative session.

“For now, it’s done,” state deputy Hans Hunt told CNN.