Former Representative Liz Cheney urged Nikki Haley to stay in the Republican primary race through Super Tuesday in an episode of “Pod Save America” that will be released on Friday. Ms. Cheney, an outspoken critic of former President Donald J. Trump, called his candidacy an “existential threat” to the nation and commended Ms. Haley for running against him, despite her long odds.
“We need to make sure that we’re challenging him and working to defeat him at every step of the way. And right now, Nikki Haley is in this fight, and I think she ought to stay in it,” Ms. Cheney said, according to a transcript of the interview shared with The New York Times.
Ms. Cheney has not endorsed a presidential candidate, and has teased the possibility of a third-party run herself. She didn’t rule that out on the podcast, and she told Jon Favreau, the podcast’s host and a former speechwriter in the Obama administration, that she “certainly” thinks a third-party candidate, whether her or someone else, will enter the race before November.
“I think we’ll see what happens,” she said. “You know, my No. 1 priority is defeating him and I think that’s going to guide whatever ultimately I decide I’m going to do.”
She dismissed the notion that Mr. Trump has all but clinched his party’s nomination and criticized Ronna McDaniel, the chair of the Republican National Committee, for urging Republicans to consolidate support behind Mr. Trump after his victory in the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday.
“That’s inappropriate, to say the least, for the chairperson of the R.N.C. to be asserting that the primary’s over when it’s not over,” Ms. Cheney said.
Ms. Cheney has long been critical of fellow Republicans who kowtow to Mr. Trump and in the interview, she singled out Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, who endorsed Mr. Trump at a rally in New Hampshire last week, months after suspending his own primary bid. The endorsement stirred more speculation that Mr. Trump might be considering Mr. Scott as his running mate. On Tuesday, Ms. Cheney called another potential vice-presidential contender, Representative Elise Stefanik of New York, a “crackpot.”
“You’ve got members who used to be responsible and thoughtful and honorable. And now for some reason, they feel that they can sort of jettison all of that in the name of loyalty to Trump,” she said.
Another subject of Ms. Cheney’s ire on the podcast was Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate’s minority leader. She called him “disgusting” for signaling that he would back away from a deal with Democrats on immigration legislation after Mr. Trump called on lawmakers to oppose it.
“History will judge them, in my view, as harshly as it will judge Trump because he can’t do what he’s doing without them,” Ms. Cheney said.
