Liz Cheney, the former GOP congresswoman who is a fierce critic of Donald Trump, said Monday that she supports Vice President Kamala Harris for president over Trump because she will be faithful to the U.S. Constitution.
“The most conservative of all conservative principles is being faithful to the Constitution,” Cheney told the crowd at a town hall-style event in Malvern, Pennsylvania, the first of a series of campaign stops with Harris almost exactly two weeks before the Nov. 5 election.
“And you have to choose in this race between someone who has been faithful to the Constitution, who will be faithful, and Donald Trump,” Cheney said.
Many fellow Republicans were jubilant when Cheney was defeated in Wyoming’s 2022 primary by Harriet Hageman, a lawyer who capitalized on Cheney’s sharp criticism of Trump. Hageman went on to win the House seat that November.
Now as then, Cheney cites the Capitol riot of Jan. 6, 2021, which erupted as Congress was certifying Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election, when she talks about Trump’s lack of faithfulness to the Constitution.
“I know how quickly democracies can unravel and I know that as Americans we can become accustomed to thinking, ‘Well, we don’t have to worry about that here,’” Cheney said. “I have seen firsthand how quickly that can happen, and that’s what’s at stake on this ballot.”
Cheney is the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, another conservative political foe of Democrats who won their applause by endorsing Harris over Trump shortly after she did.
Cheney was vice chair of the House select committee to investigate the events of Jan. 6 at the Capitol. She was one of two Republicans on the nine-member panel, all appointed by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
“I come to this as a mother. I have five children,” Cheney told the crowd at the Harris rally, describing how she didn’t want them to live in a country where events such as Jan. 6 could happen again.
“I believe that every one of us … has a duty and an obligation to do what we know is right for the country, and that is to support Vice President Harris,” she added.
Harris herself brought up Trump’s political opponents among top officials of his administration, including former chief of staff John Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general, and retired Army Gen. Mark Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Kelly once referred to Trump as “fascist to the core,” Harris said.
Harris and Cheney also spoke about abortion when answering questions about women’s health issues from the audience.
Cheney criticized the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, in which the high court overturned Roe v. Wade and the policy of abortion on demand after 50 years, sending the question back to state voters or legislatures.
Women haven’t gotten the kind of abortion care they need since then, Cheney said, characterizing Trump as a cruel misogynist.
“We have the chance to reject the cruelty, … the misogyny that we’ve seen from Donald Trump and [Sen.] JD Vance,” Cheney said, referring to Trump’s running mate, who represents Ohio in the U.S. Senate. “We have the chance in this race to elect someone who is going to defend the rule of law … we have the chance to remind people we are good and honorable people, we are a great nation.”
Harris said the government has no right to tell women what they can or can’t do with their own bodies.
“I feel very strongly that the government should not be telling any woman what to do with her body,” Harris said, “and when Congress passes a law reinstating the reproductive freedoms of women, I will gladly and proudly sign it into law.”
Ken McIntyre contributed to this report.
