Over 50 House Republicans attend fundraiser for Liz Cheney's challenger, Harriet Hageman

More than 50 House Republicans were at a Washington, D.C., fundraiser on Wednesday night for Harriet Hageman, Rep. Liz Cheney's challenger in Wyoming. It's a sign that a sizable part of the House GOP caucus is eager to get Cheney out of office — less than a year since they ousted her from her leadership position.

But multiple attendees said Cheney wasn't the focus of the evening. Instead, Hageman and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who was billed as a "special guest" on the invitation, focused on selling her as a candidate and future member of Congress. 

"It was spoken very clearly by Harriet that she's running for the state," said Republican Congressman Mike Bost of Illinois outside the event. "It was very positive to her candidacy and not bashing the person that holds the seat right now. Look, there's a lot of candidates that spend a lot of time badmouthing the other candidate. There was none of that, she was selling herself."

Cheney is known as a critic of former President Trump, and has pushed back on his baseless claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. She is the vice chair on the House select committee investigating the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol.