Former Vice President Dick Cheney announced Friday that he will cast his ballot for Vice President Kamala Harris this fall, confirming news that was first made public by his daughter, former Rep. Liz Cheney, earlier in the day.
Both Cheneys are Republicans, and the elder served under President George W. Bush. The younger Cheney, who endorsed Harris earlier this week, is one of former President Donald Trump’s most prominent conservative critics.
“In our nation’s 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump,” Dick Cheney said in a statement. “He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He can never be trusted with power again.”
“As citizens, we each have a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our Constitution. That is why I will be casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris,” he added.
Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said that the vice president was “proud” to have Cheney’s support.
“He joins hundreds of Republicans who are backing the Vice President and her patriotic vision of America over former President Trump, because, as Vice President Cheney said, the very future of our republic is at stake in this election,” O’Malley Dillon said in a statement.
In a Truth Social post Friday night, Trump bashed both Cheneys, using the acronym for Republican in Name Only. “Dick Cheney is an irrelevant RINO, along with his daughter, who lost by the largest margin in the History of Congressional Races!” he wrote.
Liz Cheney was ousted in 2021 from her position in House Republican leadership after criticizing Trump. In 2022, she lost her congressional primary race to a Trump-backed challenger.
During the midterm campaign cycle, Dick Cheney taped an advertisement for his daughter’s campaign, in which he called Trump a “coward.”
Liz Cheney revealed who her father would vote for during an interview Friday at the Texas Tribune Festival.
“Dick Cheney will be voting for Kamala Harris,” she said.
“If you think about the moment that we’re in, and you think about how serious this moment is, my dad believes and he’s said publicly that there’s never been an individual in our country who is as grave a threat to our democracy as Donald Trump is,” Cheney added. “And that’s the moment that we’re facing.”
Asked for comment Friday about her remarks, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung replied, “Who the f— is Liz Cheney?”
Liz Cheney had said when announcing her support for Harris on Wednesday that people do not have “the luxury of writing in candidates’ names, particularly in swing states.”
“Because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris,” she said.
Cheney said on Friday that she has not spoken with Harris this week.
The former Wyoming congresswoman also said during her Friday interview with The Atlantic’s Mark Leibovich that she would support Rep. Colin Allred, D-Texas, in his Senate bid. Allred is challenging Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, who has served in the Senate since 2013.
“Here in Texas, you guys do have a tremendous, serious candidate running for the United States Senate, and his name is —” she paused as the audience cheered and Leibovich asked them to let her speak.
“It’s not Ted Cruz,” she said.
Cheney went on to praise Allred’s credentials, noting the time she served in the House with him.
“We need people who are going to serve in good faith,” Cheney said. “We need people who are honorable public servants, and in this race, that is Colin Allred. So I’ll be working on his behalf.”
In a statement, Allred called Cheney a “patriot” and said he was “honored to have her support.”
“Though we may not agree on everything, we’ve been able to find common ground by putting our country over political parties,” Allred said. “Importantly, we both believe in protecting our democracy, our constitution and the foundational promise of our great country. And we both agree that Texans cannot afford six more years of Ted Cruz.”
The Allred campaign also noted that he and Cheney cosponsored more than 50 bills together, a nod to their efforts to work across the aisle.
When reached for comment, a Cruz campaign spokesperson called Cheney “the poster child of flip-flopping.”
“We’re definitely super surprised to hear that Liz Cheney, the poster child of flip-flopping, is endorsing Colin Allred,” the spokesperson said. “Two years ago, the voters of Wyoming overwhelmingly rejected her, just like the voters of Texas will overwhelmingly reject Colin Allred this November. But hey, misery loves company.”
The Cheneys are the latest in a steady stream of Republicans who, despite policy differences, say they plan to cast ballots for Harris.
Last week, more than 200 Republicans who have worked for both Bush presidents, Sen. Mitt Romney and the late Sen. John McCain announced that they are backing Harris.
“Of course, we have plenty of honest, ideological disagreements with Vice President Harris and Gov. Walz. That’s to be expected,” said the former staffers said in a statement. “The alternative, however, is simply untenable.”
Several prominent GOP critics of Trump, including former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, appeared onstage at the Democratic National Convention last month to back Harris. In his speech, Kinzinger urged voters to “put country first” and argued that Trump has “suffocated the soul” of the GOP.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
