The Cheney Challenger Lurking on the Sidelines

As Wyoming’s congressional GOP primary field narrows, Anthony Bouchard insists he’s the victim of an establishment Republican plot.

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When former President Donald Trump officially endorsed Harriet Hageman in Wyoming’s GOP congressional race last month, Republican primary challenger Anthony Bouchard knew he’d have to act quickly. He’d spent months establishing himself as a die-hard Trump ally and fashioning his campaign in opposition to the former president’s greatest foe in the House GOP Conference: incumbent GOP Rep. Liz Cheney.

“Wyoming was President Trump’s best state both times he ran,” Bouchard said in a press release on January 20 announcing his run. “That’s because Wyoming voters are strong conservatives who want our leaders to stand up for America, defend our freedoms, fight for our way of life and always put working people first as President Trump did.”

But his hopes of flaunting Donald Trump’s endorsement on the campaign trail were suddenly dashed on September 9, when the former president formally threw his support behind Hageman, who is an admittedly unconventional choice. Hageman served as a delegate for GOP Sen. Ted Cruz in 2016, advised Cheney’s short-lived 2014 Senate bid against Mike Enzi, and donated to Cheney’s congressional campaigns in 2014 and 2016.

Since announcing her candidacy, Hageman has said that she came around on Trump after he won the nomination, and that “Democrats and Liz Cheney’s friends in the media … lied about him before he was elected and continue to lie about him to this day.” She also called him “the greatest president of my lifetime.”

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  1. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    “ Poley has navigated this scandal by insisting that impregnating a 14-year-old at age 18 constitutes “a senior-freshman relationship that happens every day in American high schools across the country.””

    Well. Technically he’s correct…

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    Mudskipper

    Zuckerberg is now directly involved with election fraud?! It is really hard to keep up with the crazies.

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  3. CatoTheElder

    If there’s an establishment plotting against Bouchard, they just might be carrying big nets and a white cotton pajama top with really long sleeves that tie in the back.

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  4. Grafakos

    "She also called him 'the greatest president of my lifetime.'"

    I don't know how old Ms. Hageman is, but I'm in my early 50s and can name nine better presidents in my lifetime.

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    1. CatoTheElder

      There are failed-state presidents-for-life that are/were better presidents than Trump. And Biden is falling back through the pack, too. At this point, I could see myself voting a Rabid Weasel ticket in ‘24.

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  5. CatoTheElder

    Wow. It's sometimes...interesting...to read about a candidate like Bouchard, for whom reality is merely one choice on the menu, and he's skipping that and going for the Crazy Curry with Orange-haired Sauce, with a maybe a dab of Statutory Rape for dessert.

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      Dwayne

      That made me chuckle, thank you

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    Pat Riot

    I wonder if all of the commenters who base their arguments on Trump no longer existing are reading this.

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    1. Avatar photo
      CVS

      Fascinating to hear who around here thinks Trump "no longer exists."

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        Pat Riot

        They aren't here, but the next article that talks about a Republican running against Democrat will float them to the surface...

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  7. Avatar photo
    Bill Nelson

    Ah, Wyoming, where men are men and sheep are nervous.

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    Merrijane

    I think he fails to understand the Trump is the Republican establishment now.

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      CVS

      Oh he understands that all too well.

      But he has to pretend he doesn't to forward his political ambitions.

      Sound familiar?

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      Bill Nelson

      Running any establishment takes effort and time, neither of which Trump is willing to spend.

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  9. Gerald Cuesta

    What is wrong with the gop that it attracts so many such scummy lunatics - and not just too it’s fringe - as happens with all political parties - but welcomingly into its mainstream?

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      Bill Nelson

      The vast majority of political candidates get involved for the betterment of their communities and constituents. You may disagree with them but assuming nefarious motives leads to bad outcomes.

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      1. Gerald Cuesta

        I’m just commenting on the nut job creepazoids whom the party is attracting like flies lately.

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    Justin Stapley

    It's telling that so many Republican political battles have devolved into competitions of grievance in ways we only use to see so consistently in the Democratic Party. "The establishment is against me" and other cults of victimization are seen as surer paths to power than laying out clear policy agendas and making a case for why any given candidate would best reflect constituent values. This development is quite unfortunate because America needs clear and principled conservative alternatives on the ballot, alternatives that all too often are no longer being offered to the American public.

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