Former Vice President Dick Cheney said he plans to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris instead of former President Donald Trump — explaining that his decision had to do with Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
“In our nation’s 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump. He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He can never be trusted with power again," Cheney, 83, said Friday in a widely reported statement.
He added, "As citizens, we each have a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our Constitution. That is why I will be casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris."
Cheney's remarks came a few days after his daughter, former Rep. Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican, announced her backing of the Democratic nominee.
On Saturday, Harris said that she was honored to have the endorsements from the Cheneys, calling them “well respected” leaders who had put loyalty to their country above their party.
“It’s time to turn the page on the divisiveness. It’s time to bring our country together, chart a new way forward,” Harris told reporters traveling with her in Pittsburgh, where Harris has been preparing for her Tuesday night debate against Trump.
Following the Cheneys' voice of support for Harris, Trump wrote on Truth Social that the former vice president was an "irrelevant RINO," an acronym for "Republican in name only," and that his daughter was as well.
Liz Cheney became an outspoken critic of Trump after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Her opposition to Trump ultimately cost her her congressional seat. On Wednesday, she said she was voting for Harris because of the grave threat that Trump poses to the country.
Her father has also been critical of Trump following Jan. 6 insurrection. In 2022, Dick Cheney appeared in a TV ad for his daughter's campaign, calling Trump a “threat to our republic” and a “coward."
The Cheneys are not the only Republicans to come out in support for Harris. Former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger; Olivia Troye, a former Trump White House national security official; and Stephanie Grisham, a former White House press secretary and aide to former first lady Melania Trump — all spoke at the Democratic National Convection last month, describing disillusionment in Trump's leadership.
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