Tulsi Gabbard: Cheneys’ endorsements, Harris’s response ‘sickened me’

Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii) slammed former Vice President Dick Cheney (R) and his daughter, former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) for endorsing Vice President Harris, arguing a vote for Harris is the same as voting for Dick Cheney and his foreign policy.

“I have a very simple message for my Democrat friends, my independent friends, those who may not be sure about who they’re voting for in this election, Dick Cheney has just made the choice very clear, a vote for Kamala Harris is a vote for Dick Cheney, the architect of everything that has gone wrong in the Middle East for the last few decades,” Gabbard said last Friday at an event in Colorado Springs, Colo., with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson.

Dick Cheney, who served under former President George W. Bush, was heavily criticized by Democrats during his White House tenure for his hawkish foreign policy stances and support of the invasion of Iraq.

Gabbard, who left the Democratic Party in 2022 and endorsed former President Trump last month, took aim at the Cheneys’ statements backing Harris and the vice president, who said last week she was “honored” to receive their endorsements.

“Her [Harris’s] response to the Dick Cheney announcement today was that she was honored to have his endorsement, and we got military veterans in the house? Got a lot of you who probably served in the Middle East like I did, and so it sickened me, Tucker, to read those words today from Dick Cheney, Liz Cheney, and Kamala Harris because we have people who we care very much about who were killed in those wars because of Dick Cheney,” Gabbard said.

The remarks were made shortly after Dick Cheney announced Friday he would back Harris over Trump, stating Americans “have a duty” to defend the Constitution, regardless of political party.

Liz Cheney, who has become one of the most vocal critics of Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection, threw her support behind Harris a day earlier “because of the danger” she said Trump poses.

Multiple Harris campaign officials shared the Cheneys’ remarks on the social platform X, with the vice president’s campaign saying it was “proud to have earned” the endorsements.

The Cheneys’ endorsements of Harris follow those made by fellow anti-Trump Republicans, such as former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) and former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan.

Liz Cheney on Sunday argued Republicans who are publicly against Trump but not backing Harris must “take the extra step” and endorse the vice president.

The Hill reached out to the Harris campaign and Liz Cheney’s team for comment.

The race between Trump and Harris remains tight, with the vice president ahead by nearly 4 percentage points in a polling index by Decision Desk HQ/The Hill.

The two will square off on the debate stage Tuesday night in Philadelphia. ABC News will host the 90-minute debate, which will begin at 9 p.m. EDT.