Susan Collins says Liz Cheney ‘has no impact, in my view’

Republican Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) said in an interview published Wednesday that former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) has “no impact” in politics.

During a wide-ranging discussion with Politico’s Jonathan Martin , Collins said she does not “fit either” of the two GOP archetypes the reporter raised: those, like Cheney, who stand up to President Trump, and those, like the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) , who curry favor with the president to maintain influence.

“With the case of Liz Cheney, what influence does she have today? Really none,” Collins, who’s locked in a tough reelection battle with Democrat Troy Jackson , said.

Cheney, the former chair of the House Republican Conference, mostly voted in line with Trump’s agenda during his first term before breaking with the president after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Trump then backed Cheney’s challenger, Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.), in her state’s 2022 GOP primary. Hageman went on to win the race by nearly 40 points.

The former Wyoming representative has since continued to advocate for traditional conservative causes while blasting Trump — even campaigning for former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race.

But Collins said Wednesday that Cheney’s switch has caused her to lose sway in political discourse.

“Liz Cheney, it’s not just that she lost her seat, it’s that she has no impact, in my view,” the Maine senator told Martin.

Collins also said, “You can respect the work that she [Cheney] did on the Jan. 6 commission. … After listening to the evidence and being there on Jan. 6 myself, I felt that the president had, many months before, started to build up an insurrection, essentially.”

Trump’s conduct before Jan. 6 met the “high standard of his removal” from office, Collins argued, justifying her vote to convict the president during his second impeachment trial. Cheney was similarly among just 10 House Republicans who voted in favor of his impeachment.

“Believe me, the president brings up that vote almost every single time that I see him,” the Maine senator added. “So, he has not forgotten.”