Former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney on Sunday encouraged anti-Trump Republicans and independents to consider voting for Vice President Kamala Harris, adding that it is “not enough” to write in someone other than former President Donald Trump in the November election.
“Given how close this race is, I think it’s not enough again. You have a lot of Republicans who say, ‘Well, you know, we’re not going to vote for him, but we’re going to write somebody else in,'” Cheney said in an interview on ABC News’ “This Week.” . “And I think this time it’s not enough, it’s important to actually vote for Vice President Harris.”
Asked why he decided to endorse Harris, Cheney noted that he had never voted for a Democrat in his 40 years of voting, but that Trump “poses a fundamental challenge and threat to the Republic.”
“We see it every day, someone who was willing to use violence to try to seize power to stay in power, someone who represents an unmitigated disaster,” Cheney, a vocal Trump critic who served as House deputy speaker Jan. 6 committee, said. “Honestly, as far as I’m concerned, and we’ve got to do everything we can to make sure that he doesn’t, that he doesn’t get re-elected.”
Pressed on whether Harris’ moderate views on several issues compared to a few years ago made it an easier decision to endorse him, Cheney pointed to Harris’ speech at the Democratic National Convention last month and said he believed it was a speech that former GOP presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush would could give.
“It’s very much about embracing and understanding the extraordinary nature of this great nation, the love of America, the recognition that America is a special place, the recognition that we all have to work together to make it happen,” he said. “And you compare it to make sure we keep it. You compare it to what we hear from Donald Trump again every day, that America is a failing nation, that America is a laughing stock.”
“Trash-talking America is very much part of the message that Donald Trump is pushing. And so at the end of the day, I think it’s important for people to understand that he’s not a conservative,” Cheney said, referring to Trump’s embrace of global tariffs, which he called a “fundamentally anti-conservative policy” that “would support a global”. trade.”
Cheney said he spoke with Harris to make his decision to support the vice president’s campaign, but declined to provide details of the conversation.
“I’m not going to talk about the specifics of the conversation, except to say that he understands and fully understands the stakes of this race and how important it is to reflect the broad coalition that is coming together to support him,” he said.
Asked what he thought of former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s recent statements that she was “on standby” to campaign for Trump after ruling the former president ineligible for a second term, Cheney said he couldn’t understand. her position on this in any principled way,” because Haley had pushed for conservative principles in the Republican presidential primaries.
“The things that he said and that he made clear when he was in the primary are true,” he said. “And again, you know, those of us who are conservative, those of us who believe in the fidelity of the Constitution, have a responsibility and an obligation to recognize that this is not about partisan politics and the country needs to rebuild a conservative, real conservative movement as we go through this election cycle.”
“In too many cases, what so many elected Republicans have done — that is, rejecting the Constitution, telling themselves this is just simply a partisan election — that’s not what we have in front of us this time,” he said. .
NBC News has reached out to Haley’s spokesperson for comment.
Cheney, who was ousted as House Republican leader after he denounced Trump following the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, announced his support for Harris last week. Days later, her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, also said he planned to vote for Harris in November.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., dismissed the notion that the Republican positions Harris received would influence the presidential election.
“This is a significant time in politics, Dick Cheney is endorsing a Democrat and Kennedy is endorsing a Republican,” Cotton said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” referring to former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s endorsement of Trump last month.
“I think it tells us that there’s a lot going on in American politics, but at the end of the day, positions don’t matter in this race. What makes the difference is their record,” he added, before criticizing Harris’ record on the economy.
In a statement announcing his support for Harris, the former vice president criticized Trump’s baseless claims of a stolen 2020 election, saying he “can never be trusted with power again.”
Asked in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” what he would say to undecided voters who might be swayed by the former vice president’s claim, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum said he wasn’t sure if any undecided voters would be swayed because “it’s been pretty well understood ” that Cheney “is not a fan of Trump”.
Burgum questioned whether Cheney would get on Harris’ campaign trail, noting Democratic criticism of the former vice president over his foreign policy record.
“This is ‘Darth Cheney,'” he said. “I think, you know, a genocidal war criminal,” as the Democrats called him for decades. And now, overnight, they’re embracing him. So I guess I’m just thinking, you know, maybe he’s the campaign’s on the trail of.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who has not endorsed Harris since replacing President Joe Biden in the race, praised the Cheneys for their support of Harris in a separate interview on “Meet the Press.”
“I think Dick and Liz Cheney are saying that at this existential moment in American history, it’s not just problems,” he said. “Cheney and I agree on nothing, not things. But we believe that the United States should maintain its democratic foundations.”
“And it’s not just Cheney. I think there’s a significant number of Republicans who are saying, ‘Well, you know, I may not agree with the vice president on this, but I can’t support somebody who’s a pathological liar, somebody who instigated an insurgency to bring down election results,” he added. “So I applaud the Cheneys for their courage in standing up for democracy. It is clear that we have very different views on all matters.”
Sanders also said he doesn’t believe Harris will abandon his progressive ideals, saying he made a “pragmatic” move by tempering his views “to win the election.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
