Former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris said former President Donald Trump is not fit to lead the US as they campaigned together on Thursday, urging voters to put country above party. .
Cheney and his father Dick Cheney, who was George W. He was vice president under Bush and is still reviled by Democrats for his vigorous defense of the Iraq War, is a staunch conservative and is the two most prominent Republicans who endorsed Harris against Trump in November. 5 elections.
Both have sharply criticized Republican nominee Trump, calling his refusal to accept defeat in the 2020 election and his role in the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, as disqualifying.
At an event in Wisconsin, Cheney described herself as a Ronald Reagan conservative, joking, “I was a Republican even before Donald Trump started spray tanning.” “I am proudly casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris,” she said. This is his first vote for a Democrat.
Cheney’s comments could help Harris as she tries to court Republican and centrist voters, who polls show have a very tight race with Trump.
To win, Harris needs to win over Republicans and independents without alienating her base, especially in states like Wisconsin that could swing Republican or Democrat and are likely to decide the election.
Cheney was the top Republican on the House of Representatives committee that investigated the January 6 riot, which infuriated Trump and effectively ousted him from the party.
“Our republic faces a threat like we have never faced before,” Cheney said, pointing to Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
Cheney said, “What January 6 shows us is that Donald Trump does not have an ounce of compassion. He is petty, vindictive and cruel. And Donald Trump is not fit to lead.” This is a good and great nation.”
On Wednesday, a judge unsealed a 165-page court filing outlining federal prosecutors’ case against Trump in an effort to overturn his 2020 election loss. Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy and obstruction.
Cheney said she and Harris may disagree on some things but they are bound by their duty to the Constitution. “Harris will be a President who will defend the rule of law,” Cheney said.
“She is working to unite reasonable people from across the political spectrum,” he said. “I am honored to join them in this important work.”
Harris has taken center-to-right leaning stances on a number of issues, including her staunch support for Israel, her strict border policy on immigrants and her all-above energy strategy to keep fuel costs down.
Kathy Rubino, a 74-year-old retired nurse practitioner and an independent in the Wisconsin program, said she planned to vote for Harris and praised Cheney.
“She’s representing what she believes is best for the country,” Rubino said. “She stood up for what she believed in and that’s the important thing here.”
Recent polling shows Harris is struggling to gain traction among Republican voters despite the public endorsement of hundreds of former and current Republican officials in the military, national security and local government.
While Harris led Trump 47% to 40% among all voters in a September 20–23 Reuters/Ipsos poll, only 5% of Republican respondents to the survey said they would support him, a figure close to the margin of error. . Ten percent said they would vote for another candidate, that they did not know who they would vote for or who they would not vote for.
At Thursday’s event, Harris praised Cheney — who opposed gay marriage and praised the Supreme Court’s striking down of abortion rights — for putting her country above her party and called the endorsement a “deep honor.” .
Harris said of Cheney’s criticism of Trump, “There are a lot of people who know it’s wrong and then there are people who have the courage to say it out loud.”
Harris reiterated her message at the Democratic convention that she would be president for all Americans, regardless of party, and also described Trump as unfit to hold the office.
The event was held in a one-room schoolhouse important to the Republican Party in Ripon, Wisconsin: it was the location of the meetings that led to the formation of the party in 1854 and is called the birthplace of the party.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
