VP Harris to campaign with anti-Trump Republican Liz Cheney in key battleground states
Vice President Harris will campaign in several "blue wall" suburban battleground states next week when she will be joined by former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, a one-time rising conservative star in the GOP who, in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on the U.S. Capitol, has vowed to do everything she can to prevent Trump from returning to power.
Harris and Cheney will team up for a series of "moderated conversations" targeting suburban voters in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, according to several reports citing the Harris campaign team. The events will be moderated by longtime Republican strategist Sarah Longwell, publisher of The Bulwark, and conservative radio host and writer Charlie Sykes, per The Hill.
Harris and Cheney will speak to voters in Chester County, Philadelphia, and Oakland County, Detroit, as well as Waukesha County, Milwaukee. The latter will take place the day before early in-person voting begins in the Badger State.
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The Harris campaign is seeking to appeal to disaffected Republican voters who are skeptical of supporting former President Trump in November.
The news comes just weeks after Cheney stumped for Harris in Ripon, Wisconsin, with the former Republican congresswoman becoming the Democratic nominee’s most prominent conservative surrogate.
Cheney, the daughter of former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney, once rose within the ranks of House Republican leadership.
But she was the most high-profile of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach then-President Trump in early 2021 on a charge of inciting the deadly January 6th riot at the Capitol, which was waged by some Trump supporters who aimed to disrupt congressional certification of President Biden’s Electoral College victory in the 2020 election.
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The conservative lawmaker and defense hawk immediately came under verbal attack from Trump and his allies and was eventually ousted from her No. 3 House GOP leadership position.
Cheney, who has been vocal in emphasizing the importance of defending the nation's democratic process and of putting country before party, was one of only two Republicans who served on a special select committee organized by House Democrats that investigated the riot at the Capitol.
In 2022, she lost the GOP congressional primary in Wyoming to Harriet Hageman, a candidate backed by Trump.
At a speaking event in early September at Duke University in swing state North Carolina, Cheney announced that she would vote for Harris in the presidential election. Cheney's father also endorsed Harris.
Cheney earlier this month warned that "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 argued that Trump "can never be trusted with power again" and emphasized that "in this election, putting patriotism ahead of partisanship is not an aspiration, it is our duty."
"What January 6 shows us is there is not an ounce, not an ounce, of compassion in Donald Trump. He is petty. He is vindictive. He is cruel. And Donald Trump is not fit to lead this good and great nation," Cheney said.
Harris is also backed by more than 200 alumni who served in both Bush administrations or worked for the late Sen. John McCain and Sen. Mitt Romney, the 2008 and 2012 GOP presidential nominees, respectively. She is also supported by more than 100 Republican former national security officials and other prominent Republicans.
The Trump campaign has fired back at Republican support of Harris.
"It’s quite pathetic to see former ‘Republicans’ of the past dug up out of irrelevance to have one last moment in the sun by campaigning for another four years of unlimited illegal immigration, rising prices, and endless wars under Kamala Harris," Trump campaign Pennsylvania spokesman Kush Desai told Fox News.
"Fortunately, as with any other theatrical prop, they’re all going to be tossed aside the moment they stop being useful for Democrats — which will be November 5th, when President Trump is re-elected by Pennsylvanians."