Former Wyoming congressmember Liz Cheney has endorsed Kamala Harris for president, breaking with her fellow conservatives who are supporting Donald Trump.
Cheney, one of Trump’s most vocal Republican critics while she was in Congress, said during an event at Duke University on Wednesday that fellow conservatives don’t have “the luxury” of sitting out or writing in other candidates if they’re uneasy about Trump, especially in a swing state like the university’s home of North Carolina.
“As a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this,” she told the crowd. “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.”
The announcement was met with cheers from the audience.
The Harris campaign reportedly directly courted an endorsement from Cheney, as it looks to attract support from the small pool of prominent national Republicans who publically criticize Trump.
“We talk a lot about the Nikki Haley voters who could decide this election,” Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former Trump administration official turned critic told The New York Times last week. “More accurately, they are Liz Cheney voters, committed Republicans who likely supported Trump twice but can’t support him in the aftermath of Jan. 6 and his criminal convictions.”
Harris has also suggested she would name a Republican to her cabinet if elected, putting Cheney in a prime position for consideration.
The former Wyoming representative, daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney, became a liberal hero for being the face of the Republican resistance to Trump in Congress until she lost her seat in 2022.
Cheney was one of 10 House Republicans to vote to impeach Trump after the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, and one of two to serve on the January 6 committee investigating the incident.
Since then, she’s continued to be a thorn in her side, describing him as an existential threat to U.S. democracy.