Former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney campaigned with Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in Ripon, Wisconsin, on Thursday. This is part of a concerted effort by the Harris campaign to deploy Republican allies in key battleground states in the final months of the presidential campaign.
“Let me tell you, I’ve never voted for a Democrat, but this year I’m proudly voting for Vice President Kamala Harris,” Cheney told the audience.
Cheney said in September that both she and her father, former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney, would vote for Harris over their party’s candidate, former President Donald Trump.
Cheney has long been a critic of Trump and was one of only 10 House Republicans to vote to impeach Trump for inciting the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Ta. She later served as vice chair of the House Select Committee investigating the deadly attack.
“At the heart of our survival as a republic is a peaceful transition of power,” Cheney said Thursday, adding that the president has a duty to ensure this. “Every president in our country’s history has fulfilled that duty, up until Donald Trump.”
Harris and Cheney’s joint event comes just one day after a federal judge in Washington, D.C., unsealed a 165-page filing from special counsel Jack Smith detailing evidence against Trump in the criminal election interference case. It was done.
After six years in office, including two years as chair of the House Republican Conference, Cheney lost the 2022 Wyoming Republican primary to Trump-backed Rep. Harriet Hageman. In her major concession speech, Cheney said her defeat was a direct result of her opposition to Trump.
Thursday’s venue was carefully chosen. Ripon, Wisconsin is known as the birthplace of the Republican Party. That’s because the one-room schoolhouse there was the site of at least two meetings that helped form the Republican Party in 1854. This school building is now designated as a national historic site. landmark.
Harris also mentioned the importance of the town in her remarks and appealed directly to Republican voters, pledging to be a “president for all Americans.”
“Liz Cheney stands in the world’s finest traditions. [the Republican party’s] “Leaders,” Harris said. “And if people in Wisconsin and across our country are willing to do what Liz did and stand up for the rule of law and the ideals of democracy, we can come together and create a new plan.” I am confident that we should move forward as Americans, not as members of any particular political party. ”
Holding aside a campaign sign that read “Country Before Party,” Harris spoke about the importance of a peaceful transfer of power in a democratic republic.
“If you share that view, there is room for you to join us in this campaign, regardless of your party,” she said.
Harris’ campaign has been looking for ways to capitalize on opposition to Trump within the Republican Party.
In August, the campaign launched “Republicans for Harris.” Since then, a small number of prominent Republicans, including former Trump aides, have announced their support for Harris’ presidential bid. cassidy hutchinson And the Cheneys.
Ahead of Harris’ visit, a group of more than 20 former and current leaders of the Wisconsin Republican Party launched the “Wisconsin Republican Party for Harris Waltz” campaign platform and endorsed Harris for president in an open letter. .
“We have many policy disagreements with Vice President Harris, but what we agree on is more important,” the group said. “We agree that we cannot tolerate four more years of broken promises, election denialism, and chaos from President Donald Trump’s leadership.”
The group announced it will host outreach events for Republican voters, focusing on areas in Wisconsin where former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley won significant support in the Republican presidential primary against Trump.
The former president won Wisconsin’s Electoral College vote in an upset victory over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, but four years later, Democratic President Joe Biden flipped the Badger State back to blue.
According to recent polls, Harris and Trump are either roughly tied or within the margin of error in the U.S. presidential race. But most polls show Harris holding a small but consistent lead over Trump in Wisconsin.
Thursday night’s campaign event was Harris’ fifth visit to Wisconsin and her first visit to the town of Ripon since launching her presidential campaign in July.
