Former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney said her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, will also be voting for Vice President Kamala Harris. Liz Cheney made the announcement Friday after saying two days ago that she’s backing the Democrat.
“Dick Cheney will be voting for Kamala Harris,” the younger Cheney said of her father during the Texas Tribune Festival, prompting cheers from the audience.
Dick Cheney was vice president under former President George W. Bush and was one of the most influential officials behind Bush’s invasion of Iraq and the CIA’s interrogation tactics after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Liz Cheney was one of only two Republicans to serve on the House Jan. 6 committee investigating the Capitol assault and former President Donald Trump’s role in it, and Trump has repeatedly blasted Cheney for it, suggesting she and the others on the committee should be jailed.Â
“I don’t believe that we have the luxury of writing in candidates’ names, particularly in swing states,” Liz Cheney said Wednesday at Duke University. “As a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this. And 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.”
Harris’ campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement that Harris was “proud to have earned Congresswoman Cheney’s vote.”
The Cheneys aren’t the only Republicans to back Harris. Several Republicans spoke at the Democratic National Convention urging their fellow Republicans to back Harris for the sake of democracy, including former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan.
contributed to this report.