It may not be surprising, but is still shocking to some, that former Wyoming congresswoman Liz Cheney is supporting Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris’ bid for president.
The longtime Republican who represented Wyoming from 2017-2023 made the announcement that she will vote for Harris while speaking at an event at Duke University on Wednesday. Cheney is the daughter of former Vice President and Wyoming congressman Dick Cheney, well-known for being a deeply conservative Republican during his time in office.
She’s also been one of former President Donald Trump’s harshest Republican critics since the 2020 election.
The endorsement is just one more step Cheney has taken away from the Republican Party establishment because of Trump, who has been voted the Republican nominee for president.
During the event at Duke, located in the battleground state of North Carolina, Cheney said it’s not enough for her to simply oppose Trump’s reelection bid, and that writing in other candidate’s names isn’t an option in swing states.
“As a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this, and because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris,” Cheney said.
The room erupted in cheers after she made her unexpected announcement, according to The New York Times.
Long Traveled Path
A former Trump supporter, Cheney has consistently spoken against Trump since his attempts to overturn the 2020 election. She also served as the vice chair on the United States House Select Committee on the Jan. 6 Attack, which investigated Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
These moves cost Cheney her leadership positions in the House and led to her landslide reelection loss against U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman, the Trump endorsee in the race.
Shortly after, Cheney endorsed a few Democratic Congress candidates going up against Trump-endorsed candidates during the midterm elections of 2022.
Once A Critic
But Cheney’s open support for Harris is still a bit more surprising.
In August 2020, Cheney posted on X that Harris is “a radical liberal who would raise taxes, take away guns and health insurance, and explode the size and power of the federal government.”
“She wants to recreate America in the image of what’s happening on the streets of Portland and Seattle,” Cheney said. “We won’t give her the chance.”
These kinds of statements align with her conservative voting record, voting with Trump more than 90% of the time during her time in office.
State Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette, chairman of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, said he doesn’t find Cheney’s endorsement surprising.
“Forever wars is her goal, and Kamala is key to that,” he said.
According to the Times, the Harris campaign has been courting Cheney’s endorsement for some time and there was speculation that she would speak at the Democratic National Convention, but did not do so out of fear her voice would be lost among the sea of others at the convention.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
