Schmidt is a syndicated columnist and Editorial Board member with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. Following her Republican primary defeat on Aug. 16, Rep. Liz Cheney referenced Lincoln’s words while introducing the establishment of her new leadership PAC, called The Great Task. This great task that Cheney is undertaking is enormous and it will require innovative political tactics.
I propose thinking of the Great Task as a triangle, whose mission is to save our democracy. The three angles are all important on their own, but would yield the greatest benefit if they all work together. The first angle is as Cheney has already laid out: keeping Donald Trump from ever becoming president again. The second is the reminder to all Americans of our shared values and the significance of the freedoms we cherish. The third, and probably the most difficult to accomplish (perhaps even impossible), is addressing the disease ailing the Republican Party.
As a part of her concession speech, Cheney told the crowd gathered in Jackson Hole: “We must be very clear-eyed about the threat we face and about what is required to defeat it. I have said since January 6, that I will do whatever it takes to make sure Donald Trump is never again anywhere near the Oval Office.” Cheney is not afraid to point out Trump’s ongoing efforts to dismantle our democratic system as well as his constant attacks on the foundations and institutions of our republic. Much of that work may come from Cheney’s role as vice chair of the Jan. 6 select committee.
Cheney remains committed to calling out the lies and conspiracies surrounding the 2020 election and has added that she plans to help defeat Republican election deniers during the upcoming midterms. Cheney understands that our elections are foundational to our freedoms and if we do not shutdown election deniers, the United States may never recover.
Cheney might have the most success with The Great Task by working from within the federal government. There is a way. But it is a long shot – a very long shot – on multiple fronts. If the Democrats manage to hold onto their majority in the House of Representatives in the midterms, they should nominate Cheney for speaker of the House. Not as a Democrat but as an independent. This action would be a bold signal that Democrats are more committed to saving our democracy than pushing through an agenda. Cheney has proven she can work as a bipartisan, good faith actor through her work on the Jan. 6 committee.
This unconventional plan would require an extraordinary amount of trust. Then again, our republic is facing an extraordinary crisis. The action would be the ultimate example of putting country over party. As a bonus, it might also help restore some level of trust in our institutions.
According to a recent NBC poll, registered voters in the United States say that the top issue on their minds is the threats facing our democracy. Twenty-one percent of voters ranked "threats to democracy" as the most critical matter facing the country, while 16 percent chose "cost of living." In third was "jobs and the economy," at 14 percent. The same poll also showed that 57 percent of voters believe that the investigations into Trump's alleged misconduct should continue.
The rise in democracy as a voting issue may be due to the televised Jan. 6 hearings. Perhaps they have primed the electorate and reminded us of what our republic stands for and how it works. Cheney seems to know how to use soaring rhetoric to keep this momentum going. Following her defeat, Cheney addressed the crowd with these words: “Let us resolve that we will stand together — Republicans, Democrats, and independents — against those who would destroy our republic. They are angry and they are determined, but they have not seen anything like the power of Americans united in defense of our Constitution and committed to the cause of freedom. There is no greater power on this earth. And with God's help, we will prevail.”
The ills that afflict the Republican Party run deep. There is no quick fix here — it will likely take multiple election cycles before we see a healthier GOP again. A GOP which is based on substance, principles and ideas, and not a cult of personality around one man. This will not be popular with Republican base voters or with Republican elected officials but is a necessary step in our two-party system. Cheney understands that one of the underlying causes of the disorder infecting the Republican Party is constant lies that voters are being fed. This illness, in my opinion, will be the most difficult part of the Great Task.
No matter how you define “great,” Cheney’s mission encompasses all of them. It may also be how we end up defining her.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a“ Steel Across America” event ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11th attacks on the Ellipse near the White House on Sept. 8, 2026 in Washington, D.C. President Trump welcomed 9/ 11 first responders to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation’ s“ Steel Across America” event featuring a 16,900- pound, 21- foot steel beam recovered.
For Trump, even 9/11 is an opportunity
There was a reason organizers of the 9/11 ceremony in Manhattan told President Trump he could not speak at this year’s memorial service.
A good one, it turns out.
Because in a speech he gave on Tuesday in Washington, he did exactly what they were presumably worried about — he made it about himself.
According to The New York Times, Trump had wanted a speaking role at the service, but the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum, which oversees the site, said no, as they’ve maintained for the past decade-plus that the venue and event should be nonpartisan.
Trump has long used awful tragedies to either puff himself up, trash political opponents, or sell lies to the American people.
He blamed a deadly plane crash at Washington National Airport last year on diversity, equity and inclusion policies. He blamed Puerto Ricans for the devastation they endured after Hurricane Maria in 2017. He reportedly considered withholding disaster relief after the California wildfires based on the way affected regions voted. In an interview on Fox News meant to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, he used the occasion to slam former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi…with graves of the dead behind him.
And now, as we approach the 25th anniversary of what many New Yorkers consider the darkest day in modern history, Trump has done it again.
He told a rambling, nonsensical story — one he’s told before — about going to Ground Zero just after terrorists flew two commercial jets into the twin towers. In the story, which no one has been able to verify, despite multiple attempts, he says firefighters had to carry him out of One Liberty Plaza, also known as the U.S. Steel Building, because they thought it was about to collapse.
As CNN fact checker Daniel Dale notes, there’s no evidence Trump went into this building, especially at a time when NYPD and NYFD had locked down the area. There’s no evidence that building was collapsing — in fact, it was deemed structurally sound and reopened within two months of the attacks. There’s no evidence he was carried out of it by firefighters.
But the lie isn’t even the worst part. Pretend it was all true — why would the leader of our country, and a New Yorker, decide to make that tragic day about himself?
Because that’s who Donald Trump is. He’s a malignant narcissist.
He’s also, incidentally, a terrible and ineffectual president, who’s made ill-fated decisions that he has to keep defending, and there’s nothing he won’t do to make himself look and feel better.
Within the first two minutes of his speech, he was cravenly using 9/11 to justify and promote his dumb war in Iran — two events separated by 25 years and 6,000 miles.
“And I will tell you, we’re right now fighting because we have a certain nation that wanted a nuclear weapon, they were very close to getting it, and now they have no chance at getting it. They will never have a nuclear weapon. Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. And they’ve been punished greatly. As you know, we’ve really taken it to them.”
As a New Yorker who lived through 9/11, still one of the worst days of my life, I’m utterly sickened by Trump’s crass, political, and self-promotional framing of that awful day.
And I’m relieved he won’t be given a platform to do it again on Friday’s anniversary in lower Manhattan.
Because for Trump, everything is his for the taking, and absolutely nothing is sacred.
S.E. Cupp is the host of "S.E. Cupp Unfiltered" on CNN.