'Eight months to save our republic': Liz Cheney lays down stakes of 2024 race

Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) put out a stark message about the stakes of the upcoming presidential election Wednesday.

Hours after Nikki Haley dropped out of the Republican presidential primary, Cheney took to Twitter to acknowledge that former President Donald Trump will be her party's nominee for the presidency again, while also making clear that the thought of him returning to the White House is an unacceptable outcome.

"The GOP has chosen," wrote Cheney. "They will nominate a man who attempted to overturn an election and seize power. We have eight months to save our republic and ensure Donald Trump is never anywhere near the Oval Office again."

Cheney did not explicitly endorse President Joe Biden in her message, but nor did she signal support for any third-party candidate or call for a new alternative to both major parties.

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Cheney was one of the most conservative members of the House of Representatives and a backer of Trump until he refused to concede the results of the 2020 election, tried to get his Justice Department to baselessly declare the election "corrupt," asked Georgia's secretary of state to "find" 12,000 votes, pressured his vice president to unilaterally throw out certified election results and, when all that failed, incited a deadly riot at the United States Capitol building.

After the attack on the Capitol, Cheney became an arch-Trump foe and co-chaired the House Select Committee that recommended criminal charges against the former president for his efforts to illegally remain in power.

Special counsel Jack Smith would subsequently indict Trump over the scheme on charges that included conspiracy to defraud the United States.