CASPER — Wyoming’s Rep.-elect Harriet Hageman celebrated her win against outgoing Rep. Liz Cheney in an appearance Tuesday at Turning Point Action’s AmericaFest conference in Phoenix.
“Harriet, how does it feel to be the most popular congresswoman in America?” the host, Turning Point’s chief operating officer Tyler Bowyer, asked at the start of their interview.
“Well, all I can say is we beat Liz Cheney,” Hageman responded with a grin, to cheers from the crowd. “Thank you to everybody in America who helped us to defeat her and to defeat the uniparty in Washington, D.C.”
Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point Action, a conservative nonprofit, was among those who vehemently promoted former president Donald Trump’s claims that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent, though he also condemned the violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The organization’s conference featured some of the biggest names in ultra right-wing circles: Fox News host Tucker Carlson, former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and Donald Trump Jr., to name a few.
Some speakers, like MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and Colorado’s Rep. Lauren Boebert, had appeared at Trump’s Casper rally in May.
Hageman took to the stage for a short interview on the last day of the four-day event.
Though she attended some of the conference last year, Tuesday was her first time being a speaker at the event, her spokesperson said.
Her interview spanned a variety of topics, from concerns about the “deep state” and the influence of China in U.S. affairs, to crossover voting and the merits of ranked choice elections.
“We have an administration right now that has gone to war with the American people,” Hageman said near the beginning of her interview. “We as Congress have to block the radical agenda, we have to do everything in our power to protect you, the citizens of the United States.”
The crowd cheered.
“Wow,” Bowyer said following Hageman’s comment. “I think she’s an upgrade from Liz Cheney.”
Hageman trounced Cheney by nearly 40 points in the August primary election for Wyoming’s lone House seat, then went on to handily win the general election against Democrat Lynnette Grey Bull last month.
Once allies, Hageman and Cheney split over their stance toward Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021 attack of the U.S. Capitol. Cheney became arguably the most outspoken Republican critic of the former president’s claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him and voted to impeach Trump over his role in the Jan. 6 attack.
She also served as the vice chair of the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6 riot, which ultimately resulted in criminal charges against Trump being referred to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Cheney’s actions cost her politically, resulting in her censure in the Republican Party and, ultimately, her defeat in Wyoming’s congressional race this year.
Hageman, on the other hand, became one of Trump’s strongest supporters, repeating his claims at a Casper forum that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged” and backing his 2024 presidential bid.
She was also among those who spoke at Trump’s Casper rally.
Some of Hageman’s priorities follow in the footsteps of those that Trump held while in office. She told Bowyer that she aims to put two of Trump’s executive orders, which she described as “the very best executive orders ever issued by a president,” into federal statute.
The executive orders she pointed to, which Trump issued in October 2019 and which President Joe Biden then repealed in January 2021, required federal administrative agencies to publicly disclose their guidance documents.
Another bill that Hageman said she wants to get through Congress would require any government agency regulation or guidance with a certain monetary impact to be approved by Congress before going into effect.
“Again, putting Congress back in control,” she said. “Very simple fix.”
“Easy,” Bowyer said.
Their conversation turned toward election administration; specifically, to ranked choice voting, which Hageman called a “disaster.”
“We lost Alaska in one election cycle,” she said. “We have to fight ranked choice voting with everything we have.”
Wyoming’s state lawmakers will get to decide whether or not to pass a small-scale ranked choice voting bill in the upcoming session. The bill would allow municipalities to participate in a ranked choice voting pilot for nonpartisan races.
The idea comes from Utah, which passed similar legislation in 2018 and has since seen at least 20 municipalities opt into the pilot.
Hageman and Bowyer also railed on Wyoming’s primary election system, which allows voters to change party affiliation, or “crossover,” so they can vote, which some Democrats did this year specifically to vote for Cheney.
“Boo,” Bowyer said. “So terrible.”
Toward the end of their conversation, Bowyer said he was inspired by people like Hageman. He added that people like him “get kind of sideways with Congress,” and don’t tend to respect and like the people who serve in the body.
“But I really like you,” he told Hageman. “But that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to hold you accountable.”
Reader Comments(0)