Dick Cheney, a lifetime Republican and former US vice president, plans to support Kamala Harris for president. During an onstage interview at The Texas Tribune Festival in Austin on Friday, Mark Leibovich of The Atlantic magazine asked Liz Cheney, who had herself endorsed Harris on Wednesday, about her father’s support. Leibovich answered, “Wow,” to applause from the crowd.
Dick Cheney, like his daughter, has been a vocal opponent of the former president Donald Trump, especially during Liz Cheney’s disastrous 2022 reelection campaign. In a statement released on Friday, Dick Cheney confirmed his support, but it was almost completely expressed as opposition to Trump rather than as encouragement for Harris. The statement said, “He can never be trusted with power again.”
The statement said, “He can never be trusted with power again.” “It is our collective responsibility as citizens to defend our Constitution by putting our country above politics. For this reason, I will vote for Kamala Harris, the vice president.” In response, Trump referred to the former vice president and his daughter as “an irrelevant RINO” on his Truth Social platform. The abbreviation represents “Republican in name only.”
Asked for comment, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said, “Who is Liz Cheney?”
The campaign confirmed Cheung was being sarcastic by also pointing to a comment Liz Cheney posted online four years ago in which she called Harris a “radical liberal”.
Jen O’Malley Dillon, Harris’ campaign chair, released a statement saying, “The vice president is proud to have the support of Vice President Cheney, and deeply respects his courage to put country over party.”
Asked for comment, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said, “Who is Liz Cheney?”
The campaign confirmed Cheung was being sarcastic by also pointing to a comment Liz Cheney posted online four years ago in which she called Harris a “radical liberal”.
Jen O’Malley Dillon, Harris’ campaign chair, released a statement saying, “The vice president is proud to have the support of Vice President Cheney, and deeply respects his courage to put country over party.”
Dick Cheney, 83, has made few if any public appearances over the past year or more. He has dealt with heart issues since his 40s and underwent a heart transplant in 2012.
Dick Cheney’s statement was similar to a 2022 campaign ad for Liz Cheney as she sought a fourth term as Wyoming’s lone congressperson. In it, he called Trump a “coward” for trying to “steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him”.
In a solidly red state that formerly supported the Cheney family but is now firmly in Trump’s camp, the advertisement did little to help his daughter.
Liz Cheney lost her Republican primary by a ratio of more than two to one against attorney Harriet Hageman, who was endorsed by Donald Trump.
Dick Cheney has been friends with Democrats over the years but never supported one for president.
Both Cheneys backed Trump in 2016, but after Liz Cheney criticised Trump foreign policy decisions and Trump criticised the “endless wars” in Afghanistan and Iraq launched when Dick Cheney was vice president, their support waned.
If either Cheney supported Trump in 2020, they were mum about it. Meanwhile, their home state of Wyoming that year delivered Trump his widest margin of victory.
By 2021, Trump and the majority of the GOP felt that they were irredeemable due to Liz Cheney’s vote to impeach him and her inquiry into him following the US Capitol riot. There were some exclusions.
One was Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, a Republican Trump critic and Cheney buddy who earlier this year backed Biden and spoke in favor of Harris at the August DNC.
While several prominent Republicans, including as Senator Mitt Romney and former vice president Mike Pence, have stated they will not be voting for Trump, a number of other prominent Republicans have come out in favor of Harris.
Romney is the only one of them who is still in office and is not running for reelection.
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