Liz Cheney, a former Republican congresswoman and daughter of a former Republican vice president, will join Vice President Kamala Harris on the campaign trail Thursday in Ripon, Wisconsin, the birthplace of the Republican Party.
Cheney will campaign for Harris for the first time, amid a larger Democratic takeover effort. Republican support disappointed with former President Donald Trump.
Cheney, who voted for Trump’s impeachment after the January 6 riots and headed the committee that would eventually refer Trump to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution, Harris confirmed in North Carolina last month.
“As a conservative, someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this. And because of the threat that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, I’m going to vote for Kamala Harris,” Cheney said at Duke University in Durham.
Days later, Cheney’s father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, said was planning to vote Same for Harris.
“In the 248-year history of our nation, there has been no person who has created a greater threat to our Republic than Donald Trump,” he said. “As citizens, each of us is obliged to put the country above partisanship in order to defend our Constitution. That’s why I’m going to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump used harsh words against the Cheneys About Truth Social after the confirmations, calling Dick Cheney an “irrelevant RINO” or “Republican in name only” and saying he should “be on trial” for his daughter’s role in investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
Ripon was the site of at least two meetings in 1854 that laid the groundwork for the formation and naming of the Republican Party.
At a campaign event there on Wednesday, Harris plans to play on that symbolism, recognizing the founding principles of the Republican Party and pledging to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law, a senior campaign official said.
Harris regularly criticizes Trump for what he describes as his disregard for the Constitution in his attempt to overturn the 2020 election.
“Let’s be very clear: No one who proposes that we repeal the Constitution of the United States should ever again stand behind the seal of the president of the United States,” Harris said at a campaign event in Madison, Wisconsin, last month.
in 2022 Truth Social writingAs Trump continues to falsely claim that there was “massive fraud” in the 2020 election, he called for “the repeal of all rules, regulations and articles, even those in the Constitution.”
The Harris campaign continues to garner the support of several high-profile Republicans, including former Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, who served with Cheney on the House committee on Jan. 6; Jimmy McCain, son of the late Arizona Senator John McCain; and most recently, ex-sen. Jeff Flake Arizona.
“I believe we don’t have to agree on every issue or policy, but we should use the political process our Founders created to debate and persuade, not condemn and demonize,” Flake said in his endorsement at X. They will support Kamala Harris for President and Tim Waltz for Vice President.
Before the event, the Harris campaign announced the launch of Wisconsin Republicans for Harris-Walz, an effort led by 24 conservatives from across the state, including a former Republican county chair and several state elected officials.
“Donald Trump does not match Wisconsin’s values. To ensure that our democracy and economy remain strong for another four years, we must elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz to the White House,” Republicans wrote in a letter released Wednesday.
In August, the campaign launched a broader Republican for Harris-Walz coalition group. The ticket has since been purchased support More than 200 former staffers of former President George W. Bush and Sen. McCain of Utah and Sen. Mitt Romney, the two previous Republican presidential candidates.