writer whenever steve kornacki understands describes it, i feel like understanding for the first 30 seconds. it s complicated and then it gets complicated. it is a job, this is a very special night for young voters especially, because you can go decades. i personally won about 30 years in the space between i ve seen politicians lose an election over principle. liz cheney lost over a principle tonight. the last time i saw at it a prominent level, mario cuomo here in the state of new york 28 years ago he wouldn t change his position to favor the death penalty. and that was it, and he knew he was gonna lose if he didn t if he didn t do it. there is nothing more noble in politics and losing on principle. that is one of the reasons why concession speeches can sometimes be the best speech a
the current total vote total. cheney conceded with less than 33%. it is enough another rough night for republicans who have stood out to donald trump, and there s one person in american politics who knows and understands what it s like to be in liz cheney s position. that is congressman adam kinzinger from illinois, former member of the january six committee. i talked to him earlier about how his friend and his colleague was approaching this day. congressman king kinzinger thank you so much for being with us tonight. i want to start with i wish we were meeting under better circumstances given where the polls have been trending concerning cheney s fate. i want to ask you as one of the few people who ve been going through this with her inside the same party, what has it been like being on the committee with liz cheney. has there been camaraderie or
politics than losing on principle. that is one of the reasons why concession speeches can sometimes be the best speech a politician is ever made. i think of ted kennedy s concession speech in 1980, where he coined one of the most famous phrases. let s speak of liz cheney. and her concession speech she said. this primary election is over but now the real work begins. so that s what s so amazing about this concession speech. it s the most combative concession speech i ve ever heard. she concedes election, she does at so fast, and then she goes on to here s who i m gonna continue to fight against and it s donald trump. which technically she was not running against. her vow to fight against donald trump includes invoking abraham lincoln, and includes invoking general grant. it is the strongest valve she could possibly make, which means we do now have a genuine leader of the anti trump movement in the republican
out of the state of wyoming, where earlier tonight liz cheney was defeated by a trump backed primary challenger. congresswoman cheney concede her race because that is what you are actually supposed to do when you lose an election. concede. our republic relies on the goodwill of all candidates for office to accept honorably the outcome of elections and tonight harriet hageman has received the most votes in this primary. she won. i called her to concede the race. this primary election is over but now the real work begins. [applause] congresswoman cheney also made a point of calling out election dire nine republicans across the country any hinted that this is not the last you will hear from liz cheney.
this governor who simply quit in the middle of a job is now saying, you know what? give me a two-year term. i won t quit dak s it s only two. years quitters versus losers in a want to be any of them. lawrence o donnell thank you very much for staying up. my friend lets to many more of these. in just a minute we will be joined by one of the very few people who can relate to what liz cheney is going through. congressman adam kinzinger is the only republican in the january six committee. he knows what it s like to face an angry fueled republican base, he sure does we have a lot to ask him tonight. ask him tonight.