Why Didn't Liz Cheney Concede Graciously, Like Mr. Manners Donald Trump?

True Concessions.

Harriet Hageman, the Trump-endorsed former Never Trumper who won Tuesday's Republican primary in Wyoming, took to Fox News Wednesday night to tell Sean Hannity that Rep. Liz Cheney didn't even do her the courtesy of conceding the election, which Hageman won by a 40 point margin. 

So congratulations to Ms. Hageman on what appears to be her first outrageous untruth on national TV since clinching the GOP nomination, although we suspect she's also untruthful when she says "Hello."

Shortly after the Hannity broadcast last night, Cheney released audio of her call to Hageman's voicemail, in which she very definitely concedes the election. Here's the tweet from Politico's Olivia Beavers, who broke the story.

“EXCLUSIVE: I’ve obtained audio from the Cheney campaign of the concession voicemail Rep. Liz Cheney’s left for Harriet Hageman last night. The audio contradicts the narrative Hageman gave on Hannity tonight that she “didn’t address any kind of concession or anything else.””

— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia Beavers) 1660794431 

In the brief recording, Cheney says,

Hi, Harriet, Liz Cheney calling. It's about 8: 13 on Tuesday the 16th, I’m calling to concede the election and to congratulate you on the win. Thanks.

A perfectly normal concession message, complete with congratulations, like an adult would do.

 Cheney told Beavers that she had tried calling Hageman three times Tuesday before leaving the voicemail and then giving her own televised concession speech, in which she emphasized that in a democracy, you admit when you've lost, and then she conceded and said the election was over.

it's a bit of a contrast, shall we say, to what Hageman told Hannity:  

“Hageman: There wasn’t a phone call… She called and left a very brief two second message.. All she said was hello Harriet.. She didn’t call and discuss any kind of concession..”

— Acyn (@Acyn) 1660785476 

Hageman: I haven’t had any other contact with Liz Cheney. She made the one effort and all she said was "Hello, Harriet." And then that was the end of it. So, she didn't call and discuss with me any kind of concession or anything else. [...]

Hannity: She just said "Hello, Harriet" and then hung up?

Hageman: That was the end of the call, yes.

Now, the Hageman campaign did release a short video to Beavers that appears to back that up, although it sure sounds more like some kind of technical glitch than an abrupt hangup. To say nothing of why on Earth Cheney would bother calling only to say "Hello Harriet." Or maybe it's consistent with Liz Cheney being a ru  de monster!!! 

“HAGEMAN’s campaign has sent their own video to me showing that the voicemail audio only got “Howdy Harriet.” The voicemail had more time on it but that’s all the audio that got through to Hageman. Perhaps technical / cell service issues at play over Cheney concession message”

— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia Beavers) 1660794431 

But go back and look again at the clip with Hannity: note that Hageman doesn't claim that Cheney hung up, even when Hannity asks her about it using those words. Nor did she note the audio continues blankly for several long seconds after. Nope, the call had a beginning and an ending, but she seems careful in picking her words so she could avoid saying Cheney "hung up" oh her.

Damn right I'm suggesting maybe the cellphone gods gifted Hageman with a technical glitch that left most of Cheney's call inaudible, and she decided to run with it, particularly since Cheney had emphasized the importance of admitting when an election is over. As anyone knows, the proper etiquette is to show up at one in the morning and to declare the election was rigged against you.

Also too, we must ask, Politico, what the fuck is this headline? 

That headline, "Cheney releases concession call audio in tit-for-tat with her primary foe," really leans a little hard on the both-sidesism, suggesting that Cheney was somehow being every bit as petty as Hageman. You know how those Mean Girls can be! A follow-up story carried the more staid hed, "The Cheney concession receipts."

Ah well. At least the word "Meeeow!" didn't appear anywhere in the story about Liz Cheney the Twitter titter for tatter.

[ Politico / Politico ]

Yr Wonkette is funded entirely by reader donations. If you can, please give $5 or $10 a month, because we don't even have a concession stand. (Dok fires self for that one.)

 Do your Amazon shopping through this link, because reasons .