Dick Cheney will vote for Kamala Harris, daughter says

Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

Former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney will vote for Kamala Harris, his daughter Liz Cheney, a former U.S. representative, said at The Texas Tribune Festival on Friday.

Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican, also endorsed Democrat Colin Allred in his race to beat Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.

Liz Cheney endorsed Harris earlier this week at Duke University. She has been one of Donald Trump’s chief critics, calling the former Republican unfit for office since the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

“Dick Cheney will be voting for Kamala Harris,” she said of her father, who served as vice president under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2009. “If you think about the moment we’re in, and you think about how serious this moment is, my dad believes — and he said publicly — there has never been an individual in our country who is as grave a threat to our democracy as Donald Trump is.”

The former vice president confirmed the news in a statement.

“In our nation’s 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump. 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,” he said. “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.”

Since losing her House seat, Liz Cheney has worked to beat back election denialism in the Republican Party, in some instances supporting Democrats.

“One of the most important things we need to do as a country as we begin to rebuild our politics is we need to elect serious people,” Liz Cheney said. “Here in Texas, you guys do have a tremendous, serious candidate running for U.S. Senate.”

The audience erupted in applause cutting Liz Cheney off.

“It’s not Ted Cruz,” she said.

She blamed Cruz for leading the effort in the Senate for trying to overturn the election.

“That is not somebody to put in a position to be able to do that again,” Cheney said.

In officially endorsing Allred, Cheney recalled briefly working with the Democrat in Congress.

“You might not agree on every policy position, but we need people who are going to serve in good faith,” she said. “And in this race, it is Colin Allred. And I’ll be working on his behalf.”

Allred welcomed Liz Cheney’s endorsement, calling her a patriot “who continuously puts country over party because she believes in the importance of protecting our democracy.”

“I am so honored to have her support,” he said on X. “In the Senate, I will work across party lines to get things done for Texas.”

A spokesperson for Cruz called Liz Cheney “the poster child of flip-flopping, is endorsing Colin Allred.”

“Two years ago, the voters of Wyoming overwhelmingly rejected her, just like the voters of Texas will overwhelmingly reject Colin Allred this November,” the Cruz campaign said. “But hey, misery loves company.”

Liz Cheney’s comments came just days before Harris is scheduled to meet Trump at a debate.

Liz Cheney said Trump would “show the American people who he” and his running mate JD Vance are, she said. “This is my diplomatic way of saying it: They’re mysoginistic pigs.”

She believes women will be turned off.

“At the end of the day I think that women around this country, we’ve had enough,” she said.

Since Liz Cheney endorsed Harris, there has been speculation she would join a future Harris administration.

“I am not focussed on that,” she said, “I am very much focussed on we have to make sure that we defeat Donald Trump in November.”

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond.

As The Texas Tribune’s signature event of the year, The Texas Tribune Festival brings Texans closer to politics, policy and the day’s news from Texas and beyond. Browse on-demand recordings and catch up on the biggest headlines from Festival events at the Tribune’s Festival news page.