Liz Cheney makes case for Harris in Wisconsin

Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) made a campaign appearance Thursday in Ripon, Wis., known as the birthplace of the Republican Party, with Vice President Harris, a pairing of a former House GOP leader drummed out of her party by supporters of former President Trump with the Democratic presidential nominee.

Cheney introduced Harris at a rally on Thursday and called on other Americans to join her and be willing to move across the aisle.

“We may disagree on some things, but we are bound together by the other thing that matters to us as Americans, more than any other, and that is our duty to our Constitution and our belief in the miracle and the blessing of this great nation,” she said. “I ask you to stand in truth, to reject the depraved cruelty of Donald Trump and I ask you instead to help us elect Kamala Harris for president.”

“I know that she can be a president that can inspire our children… and especially our little girls to do great things,” Cheney added.

The Wyoming Republican was a key member of the Jan. 6 panel that investigated Trump’s efforts to hold on to power after the 2020 election, and has been an outspoken critic of the former president. Her anti-Trump sentiment cost her the GOP leadership position, and eventually her seat in Congress.

She’s now working to elect Harris, and she’s been joined by her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney.

The Harris campaign has made an effort to reach across the aisle, hoping that voters dismayed by Trump could join her camp. “Republicans for Harris” launched in August, with big names like Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) publicly supporting Harris, plus a plethora of former national security figures.

But the Cheney family endorsement is the highest profile GOP support Harris has received. The public backing helped boost the effort to reach out to Bush-era Republicans and those who supported former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in the GOP primary.

Harris emerged at the rally after Cheney introduced her with signs flanking her that read “country over party.”

The crowd started chanted, “thank you Liz” after the two shook hands.

“We may not see eye to eye on every issue and we are going to get back to a healthy two-party system, I am sure of that, where we will have vigorous debates,” Harris said at the rally, referring to Cheney. “We both love our country and revere our Democratic ideals. And we both also believe in the nobility of public service. And, we know that our oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America is a sacred oath.”

“In this election, I take seriously my pledge to be a president for all Americans,” the vice president said.

Cheney focused her rally remarks on Trump’s role on Jan. 6, noting that the former president did not condemn those who stormed the Capitol. She told attendees that Trump allegedly said “so what?” when he was told Vice President Pence was in danger that day, which was revealed in a unsealed filing from Special Counsel Jack Smith this week.

“We must defeat Donald Trump on November 5,” the former congresswoman said. “Donald Trump is not fit to lead this good and great nation.”

Harris also used Jan. 6 to try to appeal to GOP voters who may be willing to support a Democrat because of the events of that day.

“Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. And as you have heard and you know, he refused the accept the will of the people and the results of an election that was free and fair,” the vice president said. “He sent an armed mob to the United States Capitol, where they assaulted law enforcement officers. He threatened the life of his own vice president and refused to engage with the peaceful transfer of power.”

She called it a “tragic truth” that there’s a question over if Trump would uphold the Constitution in a second term and said that he should never be president again, based on his role in trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power on Jan. 6.

Wisconsin is one of the several critical battleground states that are essential to win in November. Harris and Trump have been laser-focused on reaching out to battleground state voters while the race in those states is largely neck-and-neck.