Former Wyoming Republican Representative Liz Cheney has been campaigning with Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris this week, urging Republican voters to not support GOP nominee Donald Trump in the race.
On Thursday, Cheney and Harris appeared in Ripon, Wisconsin, where the Republican Party was formed. The pair traveled the battleground state of Wisconsin together to blast Trump and outline him as a disaster for the country.
At one point, Cheney was seen as a rising star within the GOP. She is the daughter of Dick Cheney, who served as vice president under President George W. Bush. She herself was even the third in line in the House GOP.
That all changed, though, when she changed her tone following the riot at the U.S. Capitol in January 2021.
Since that time, Cheney has railed against Trump and has done everything she possibly can to try to prevent him from taking back the White House.
Her latest attempt to do so has seen her take a rather dramatic step — endorsing Harris, a Democrat, for president.
As Cheney said to an audience in Wisconsin this week:
“I have never voted for a Democrat, but this year I am proudly casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris. As a conservative, as a patriot, as a mother, as someone who reveres our Constitution, I am honored to join her in this urgent cause.”
Harris then had some fine words for Cheney, who she called a leader who “puts country above party and above self, a true patriot.”
The campaign event at which Cheney spoke was held in Ripon, which is where a schoolhouse was named a national historic landmark. It received that designation because, during a series of meetings that took place in 1854, the Republican Party was eventually formed.
Cheney was one of 10 Republicans in the House who voted to impeach Trump in January 2021 following the attacks on the Capitol that month. She was the most prominent one, though, and continued to remain one of Trump’s most outspoken critics.
The Wyoming Republican Party censured Cheney for that decision, and she was removed from her leadership role in the House GOP.
Cheney was chosen as one of only two Republicans to serve on the House Select Committee that investigated the January 6 attacks, serving as its vice chair.
Over the summer, she lost her bid for re-election in the GOP primary, losing to a candidate who Trump supported — Harriet Hageman.
None of that has stopped Cheney from criticizing Trump, though. If anything, it has amplified her voice and made it louder, though how effective her words and actions will be in preventing Trump from returning to the White House aren’t known just yet.
During her speech on Thursday, Cheney warned the crowd:
“Our republic faces a threat unlike any we have faced before: a former president who attempted to stay in power by unraveling the foundations of our republic.”
She added that Trump “can never be trusted with power again,” emphasizing that “in this election, putting patriotism ahead of partisanship is not an aspiration, it is our duty.”