At Wisconsin rally, Liz Cheney makes the Republican case for Kamala Harris

Former Republican House member Liz Cheney joined Vice President Kamala Harris at a Wisconsin rally on Thursday to urge Americans to vote for the Democratic presidential nominee and to reject the candidacy of Donald Trump.

“I have never voted for a Democrat, but this year I am proudly casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris,” Cheney said in a speech introducing Harris in the town of Ripon.

In explaining how a staunch conservative had decided to back a liberal Democrat for president, Cheney said, “I know that the most conservative of conservative values is fidelity to our Constitution.”

Cheney, the highest ranking Republican to serve on the House Select Committee that investigated Trump’s efforts to remain in power, recounted what she regarded as Trump’s violation of his “sacred oath” to uphold the Constitution.

“In this country, under our Constitution, our president has a particular, solemn obligation to insure and guarantee the peaceful transfer of power,” Cheney said, adding, “When Donald Trump woke up on the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, his intention, despite having lost the election was that he would remain president.”

That was then

Not long ago, the sight of Cheney campaigning for Harris would have been all but unthinkable.

“Her radical leftist views — raising taxes, banning gun sales, taxpayer $ for abortion & illegal immigrant healthcare, eliminating private health insurance — would be devastating for America,” Cheney wrote in a 2020 message about Harris posted to the social media site then known as Twitter.

But after Trump set about trying to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden, Cheney turned on him. She was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for incitement of insurrection, and then served as one of two GOP members on the House Select Committee. Viewed by GOP voters as disloyal to the party, Republicans in Wyoming then turned on Cheney, who lost the 2022 Republican primary to a Trump-backed challenger.

Cheney credited former Vice President Mike Pence for refusing to “violate his oath to the Constitution,” when he certified Biden's Electoral College victory in 2020.

"And that is why Mike Pence is not Donald Trump's running mate today," she said. "Instead, JD Vance is on the ticket… Vance has said repeatedly that he would have done what Donald Trump wanted. That he would have rejected electoral votes. He would have thrown out the votes of the people of Wisconsin because he didn't like the way that you voted. That is tyranny and that is disqualifying."

‘Thank you Liz!’

While Cheney acknowledged policy differences with Harris, she repeatedly emphasized that the vice president was the clear choice over Trump, who she said “is not fit to lead,” and portrayed Harris as “standing in the breach.”

The decision to hold Thursday's rally in Ripon held further significance. The town is credited as the place where the Republican Party was founded in 1854 to protest the expansion of slavery into western territories. It was also a direct appeal to Republicans in an important battleground state who may be wavering on again supporting Trump.

“Can we hear it for Liz Cheney?” Harris said when she took the stage, causing her audience to break into a chant of “Thank you Liz!”

“It is my profound honor to have your support,” Harris told Cheney, “and I also want to thank your father, Vice President Dick Cheney, for his support and for what he has done to serve our country. Every endorsement matters and this endorsement matters a great deal, Liz.”

Defections

The Harris rally in Wisconsin comes as several notable former Republican office holders have come forward in recent weeks to endorse Harris, including former Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, former Sen. Nancy Kassenbaum of Kansas, former House member Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, and former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan.

Numerous former Trump administration staffers have also announced they will be voting for Harris, including Former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham, and former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson.

In August, more than 200 Republicans who worked under former GOP presidents and presidential nominees signed an open letter pledging to endorse Harris.

A month later, more than 100 Republican former national security and foreign policy officials declared their support for Harris.

Trump has picked up notable endorsements from lifelong Democrat Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and from former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii.