Liz Cheney, campaigning for Harris, says Trump ‘not fit to lead’

RIPON, Wisconsin — Former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney said former President Donald Trump is “not fit to lead” the U.S., urging voters to put country over party as she campaigned with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in Wisconsin on Thursday.

Cheney and her father Dick Cheney, who was vice president under George W. Bush and is still vilified by Democrats for his bullish defense of the Iraq War, are staunch conservatives and two of the most prominent Republicans to have endorsed Harris against Trump.

Both have sharply criticized Trump, the Republican nominee, calling his refusal to accept his 2020 election loss and his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol disqualifying.

“I was a Republican even before Donald Trump started spray tanning,” Cheney joked, describing herself as a Ronald Reagan conservative. “I am proudly casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris,” she said, her first vote ever for a Democrat.

Cheney’s comments could help Harris as she tries to court Republican and centrist voters.

To win what polls show to be a very tight race with Trump, Harris needs to win over Republicans and independents wary of him without alienating her base, particularly in states like Wisconsin that can swing toward Republican or Democrat and are likely to decide the election.

Cheney was the top Republican on the House of Representatives committee that investigated the Jan. 6 riot, earning Trump’s disdain and effectively exiling her from the party.

“Our republic faces a threat unlike any we have faced before,” Cheney said, pointing to Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

“What January 6th shows us,” Cheney said, “is that there is not an ounce, not an ounce, of compassion in Donald Trump. He is petty, he is vindictive and he is cruel. And Donald Trump is not fit to lead this good and great nation.”