Shortly after House Republicans voted to oust Liz Cheney from her leadership post on Wednesday, the Wyoming representative sat down with TODAY's Savannah Guthrie, more clear-eyed and defiant than ever, saying that she would "absolutely" run for re-election and "absolutely" believes that she will win.

What You Need To Know

  • In her first interview since her ouster from House GOP leadership, Rep. Liz Cheney said that she will do "whatever it takes" to stop Trump from serving as president again

  • House Republicans voted to remove Cheney from her role as House GOP Conference Chair on Wednesday

  • Cheney told NBC's Savannah Guthrie that she will "absolutely" run for re-election and "absolutely" believes that she will win

  • Even though Trump's team is actively seeking a challenger to unseat Cheney in a GOP primary, Cheney's message to them was simple: "Bring it on"

Cast out as House Republican Caucus Chair by her caucus over her unyielding criticism of former President Donald Trump, specifically pushing back on his repeated false claims about widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, Cheney refused to back down from her criticism of Trump.

"He's unfit. He never again can be anywhere close to the Oval Office," Cheney told Guthrie in the interview, which aired Thursday.

After the vote, Cheney was called a "bitter, horrible human being" in a vitriolic statement from Trump, whom she voted to impeach for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. She had endured months of criticism from members of her own caucus after she refused stop speaking out against him. And even as members stripped her of her No. 3 post- an act of fealty that cemented the former president's grip on the Republican Party – Cheney's final speech was received, in part, by jeers and boos, according to a member of the House in the room.

It was a stunning fall from grace – nearly unfathomable just months ago, when House Republicans voted in a wide margin to keep Cheney in her leadership role.

Still, as she sat down with Guthrie in her congressional office just after the vote to oust her from leadership, her message was simple: She would not be going anywhere, even if it earned her tough primary challengers. She would stay in the GOP as long as voters would let her, and she would not back down from her mission to keep the former president from getting near the Oval Office.

Even though Trump's team is actively seeking a challenger to unseat Cheney in a GOP primary, Cheney's message to them was simple: "Bring it on."

"If they think that they're going to come into Wyoming and make the argument that the people of Wyoming should vote for someone who is loyal to Donald Trump over somebody who's loyal to the Constitution, I welcome that debate," she said. 

"I'm going do everything that I can" to make sure [Trump] never again gets close to the [presidency]," Cheney added, and vowed that she would "make sure the Republican Party gets back to substance and policy."

Guthrie asked Cheney how far she's willing to take her opposition to Trump, asking her a few times: "Would you run for president?"

"I think that it is the most important issue that we are facing right now as a country, and we're facing a huge array of issues, so he must not ever again be anywhere close to the Oval Office," Cheney responded initially. "I'm going to do everything that I can, both to make sure that that never happens, but also to make sure that the Republican Party gets back to substance and policy."

When pressed again by Guthrie, Cheney said she is "very focused on making sure that our party becomes again a party that stands for truth and stands for fundamental principles that are conservative and mostly stands for the Constitution, and I won't let a former president or anybody else unravel the democracy."

"Whatever it takes?" Guthrie inquired.

"Whatever it takes," Cheney responded.

As Guthrie noted, the Trump-Cheney feud is being framed as "a battle for the soul of the Republican Party." But whether the party wants to receive its metaphorical salvation from Cheney is another matter altogether.

Following her floor speech Wednesday morning – in which she quoted the Bible passage "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free," and asked God to "help us to remember that democratic systems can fray and suddenly unravel" – she was met with disdain and mockery from members of her caucus.

"She who thinks she leads, but has no followers, is only taking a walk," Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), said in a statement Wednesday afternoon. "Liz, I'm afraid you're a woman who is only taking a walk right now."

"Can't have a conference chair who recites Democrat talking points," Trump ally Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) said simply.

And Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) abandoned formality altogether, opting for a short and callous tweet: "Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey, goodbye Liz Cheney."

Cheney, who has repeatedly described Trump as a threat to democracy, said that Trump's inability to accept defeat in the 2020 election and his subsequent embrace of false claims of election fraud underscores that he is unfit to serve in office.

Still, Cheney was reluctant to cast herself as the GOP "opposition in exile." Instead, she told Guthrie, "I intend to be a leader in a fight to help restore" the Republican Party; to help bring it back to substance and principles."

"We have to decide as a party whether we're going to embrace the truth," she added.

When Guthrie asked about the "soul of the party" – noting Trump is ascendant and Cheney was "no longer in office, apparently referring to her position in House leadership – Cheney was quick to correct her.

"Actually, I am in office and he's not," she said. "So no. I think it's just an opening salvo in that battle, and it's a battle we have to win because it's not just about the Republican Party. It's about the country, and it's about whether or not we're going to respect our electoral process."

Cheney also did not shy away from criticism of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, accusing the California Republican of "not leading with principles right now," which she called "sad" and "dangerous."

"Leader McCarthy's visit to the former president, Mar-a-Lago, was really stunning," Cheney said. "Given what the former president did, he's not just former president. He provoked an attack on the Capitol, an attack on our democracy, and so I can't understand why you would want to go rehabilitate him."

She also emphasized that it is "important" to let the Department of Justice investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, including whether or not Trump should be criminally charged.

"It's very important that the investigations that the Department of Justice has under way be allowed to go wherever it leads," Cheney said. "I think the American people have to know."