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

RIPON, Wisconsin – Former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney said ex-president Donald Trump is “not fit to lead” the US, as she campaigned with Vice-President Kamala Harris, Trump’s Democratic opponent, on Oct 3 in Wisconsin.

Ms Cheney and her father Dick Cheney, who was vice-president under former president George W. Bush, are staunch conservatives and two of the most prominent Republicans to have endorsed Ms Harris against Trump.

Both have sharply criticised Trump, the Republican nominee, calling his refusal to accept his 2020 election loss and his role in the

Jan 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol

disqualifying.

“I was a Republican even before Donald Trump started spray tanning,” Ms 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.

Ms Cheney described Trump’s actions on Jan 6 as “depravity”.

She said: “He is petty, he is vindictive, and he is cruel.” The former House of Representatives member said she and Ms Harris may disagree on some things, but they are bound together by their duty to the Constitution. Ms Harris will be a president “who will defend the rule of law”, Ms Cheney said. 

Ms Cheney’s comments could help Ms Harris as she tries to court Republican and centrist voters ahead of the Nov 5 election.

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

Ms Harris has adopted a centre-to-right-leaning stance on several issues, including her staunch support for Israel, a border policy tough on migrants and an all-of-the-above energy strategy to keep fuel costs low.

Ms Kathy Rubino, 74, a retired nurse practitioner and an independent at the Wisconsin event, said she plans to vote for Ms Harris, and praised Ms Cheney.

“She is representing who she thinks is best for the country,” Ms Rubino said. “She stood up for what she believed, and that is the important thing here.”

Recent polling shows Ms Harris struggling to gain traction with Republican voters despite getting the public support of hundreds of former and current Republican officials in the military, national security and local governments.

While Ms Harris led Trump 47 per cent to 40 per cent among all voters in a Sept 20 to 23 Reuters/Ipsos poll, only 5 per cent of the poll’s Republican respondents said they would back her, a figure close to the margin of error. Ten per cent said they would vote for another candidate, did not know who they would vote for, or would not vote.

At the Oct 3 event, Ms Harris praised Ms Cheney – who opposed same-sex marriage and praised the Supreme Court’s repeal of the right to abortion – for putting her country above her party.

“There are many who know it is wrong, and then there are those who have the courage to speak out loudly about it,” Ms Harris said of Ms Cheney’s criticism of Trump.

Ms Harris repeated her message from the Democratic Convention that she would be a president for all Americans regardless of party, and described Trump as unfit to hold the office.

The event was held in Ripon, Wisconsin, at a one-room schoolhouse significant to the Republican Party: It was the site of meetings that led to the party’s formation in 1854, and is referred to as the party’s birthplace.

Ms Mary Anna Mancuso, a Republican strategist, said Ms Harris was running “one of the most conservative platforms we have seen recently”, but said she thought there was little risk that a large number of liberals would reject Ms Harris because of it.

“Where else would they go? They are not going to go and vote for Donald Trump,” she said. REUTERS