Cheney independent presidential run would hurt Biden more than Trump: poll

If Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who lost her House primary last week, decides to embark on a presidential run in 2024 as an independent, she could end up hurting President Biden’s chances of reelection more than Trump’s, according to a new Yahoo News/You Gov poll. 

After Cheney lost her reelection bid for the House to Trump-backed GOP candidate Harriet Hageman, she said she has political ambitions that go past Congress. 

“That’s a decision that I’m going to make in the coming months, and I’m not going to make any announcements here this morning. But it is something that I am thinking about, and I’ll make a decision in the coming months,” Cheney said after her loss, when asked about a potential White House bid.

She later told Politico that she is “not at all focused” on specifics of a 2024 run, keeping open the possibility she could run as an independent. 

The poll found that in a standoff between Trump and Biden without Cheney, Biden would lead Trump by 4 points among registered voters. 

However, if it is a race among Trump, Biden and Cheney, with Cheney running as an independent, the poll found she would end up pulling more votes away from Biden.

In a three-way matchup in the poll, Trump jumped to the lead, beating Biden by more than 8 points. 

Cheney could also, of course, challenge Trump as a Republican and seek to damage him in a primary to the extent that he cannot survive a general election.

Cheney, the top Republican on the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, is Trump’s most vocal GOP critic on Capitol Hill.

She has said numerous times Trump is unfit for office, while he has painted Cheney as a “RINO,” an acronym meaning Republican in name only, saying she has turned her back on her party.