Liz Cheney warns ‘depraved’ Trump would not leave office if elected

Former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney is warning that if former President Donald Trump is elected in 2024, checks and balances designed to protect the government structure will fail to control him.

Cheney, a Republican and vocal Trump critic, wrote in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that the courts and Congress will not hold down Trump from attempting “illegal or unconstitutional acts” in a second term.

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“The framers explicitly warned us that the checks and balances are only as effective as the people responsible for carrying them out,” Cheney wrote. “Those who try to dismiss the risk of a second Trump term do our country a grave disservice.”

The former Wyoming representative detailed how she believes many Republicans in Congress would not work to check Trump, leaving the courts to keep him in line, but she also insisted that the power of the courts is limited.

“The rulings of our courts have force only because the chief executive respects, obeys and enforces them,” she wrote. “You can bet that in a second term Mr. Trump would continue to demonize judges and would refuse to comply with or enforce judicial rulings he opposes. Once that happens, our system of checks on presidential power unravels.”

Cheney then noted the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and Trump’s legal challenges to the 2020 election as reasons he would not “voluntarily leave office” after a second term.

“Have we forgotten how a depraved Donald Trump sat and watched the violent mob attack our Capitol and refused for multiple hours to instruct them to stand down and disperse? He showed us his character on Jan. 6. He is the same exceptionally dangerous and flawed man today. And if Mr. Trump fears he might face future prosecution, you can bet he won’t voluntarily leave office,” Cheney said.

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“Our nation can endure bad policies for four or eight years,” she added. “But once our constitutional system unravels, the damage is irreversible, and our republic fails just as so many others have throughout history. The framers understood this. We should too. The risk is far too great to elect Mr. Trump ever again.”

Cheney lost her House seat in 2022 after being defeated by GOP challenger Harriet Hageman by nearly 40 points in the Republican primary.