'Do not sit this one out': Liz Cheney says election could bring second insurrection

It could happen again.

That’s the message former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney sent Tuesday to nearly 2,000 people packed into the Thousand Oaks Civics Art Plaza. She said that if former President Donald Trump does not win the 2024 election, he could try to reverse the outcome in a replay of the events that led to the attack at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Cheney, the Republican from Wyoming who served as vice chair of the House Select Committee on the Jan. 6 attack, said key Republican leaders, including House Speaker Mike Johnson still won’t acknowledge Trump lost the 2020 election. She pointed too at House leaders who won’t commit to certifying results of the 2024 general election.

She focused most on Trump, asserting he has no limits and citing his suggestion in September that Gen. Mark Milley, former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was a traitor who might deserve the death penalty because of his actions after Jan. 6.

“The only way we can save the nation is to jump in and get involved,” Cheney said. “There has never been a time when we face the threats we face today.”

Cheney served three terms in Congress and was defeated in a 2022 primary. Earlier, she had been removed from House Republican leadership in a move interpreted by many as retaliation for her condemnation of Trump and his role in Jan. 6.

She spoke Tuesday as part of a Distinguished Speaker Series of Southern California in its first sell-out in Thousand Oaks since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Outside the auditorium, a handful of protesters gathered with at least one holding a Trump 2024 sign. Another yelled barbs at California Gov. Gavin Newsom into a megaphone.

Inside, Cheney talked about her father, Dick Cheney, who became vice president when George W. Bush won the 2000 presidential election in a race decided by 537 votes in Florida. She praised Democratic nominee Al Gore’s concession speech and said it led the way to a peaceful transition that has always marked changes at the White House.

The string of harmonious changeovers ended when Trump put in place his plan to stay in office despite the defeat, Cheney said. He pressured states to change electoral votes, unsuccessfully pushed Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the defeat and instigated the Capitol attack.

“He summonsed a mob to Washington, telling them to be there and be wild,” she said.

Trump watched the attack unfold on television in the White House, refusing pleas to tell the attackers to go home, she said.

The scariest part was the breadth and depth of the plan, she said, detailing the harassment faced by Rusty Bowers, then Arizona’s House Speaker, including accusations of corruption and pedophilia, all made as Bowers’ 42-year-old daughter was dying of a long illness.

She focused on Trump’s current candidacy, asserting Congress and the courts will not stop it. The burden, she said, will be on the shoulders of voters.

“It will take every single one of us to make sure Donald Trump is nowhere near the Oval Office again,” she said. “So do not sit this one out.”

She spoke briefly of her new book, “Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning.” In a moment of levity, she talked of her love for cooking and admitted watching reality television shows, including “The Real Housewives.”

As in the past, she hinted at a possible run for the presidency but said she wasn’t making any announcements yet.

“I’m going to do whatever it takes to defeat Donald Trump,” she said.

As people filed out of the auditorium, some contemplated her possible candidacy while others praised her courage and snark. Elaine Blieden of Encino wondered to what extent Jan. 6 and the events that followed have changed Cheney’s political allegiance.

“I walked away thinking she’s been a Republican all her life,” she said. “What party is she going to vote for?”

Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tom.kisken@vcstar.com or 805-437-0255.

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This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Liz Cheney says election could bring second insurrection