Former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney is campaigning hard for Kamala Harris, but she also believes millions of Republicans will quietly vote for the vice president over Donald Trump in November.
The conservative former lawmaker and Harris are an odd couple on the campaign trail, but on Monday they hit the road together for a series of events in the battleground states that make up Democrats’ so-called blue wall.
At a campaign event in suburban Oakland County, Michigan, outside Detroit, Cheney said that while she is making a public plea for Republicans to vote for a Democrat, she won’t be alone.
“I certainly have a lot of Republicans who will say to me, ‘I can’t be public.’ They are concerned about a whole host of things related to violence, but they will do the right thing,” Cheney said.
‘I“If you are at all concerned, you can vote your conscience and never have to say a word to anyone again, and come November there will be millions of Republicans doing that,” she claimed.
Republican former Congresswoman Liz Cheney claimed that millions of Republicans will quietly vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in November
Her comments came at an event moderated by journalist and Kennedy family member Maria Shriver, as Harris looks to win over Republican voters, including those who backed Nikki Haley in the Republican presidential primary as part of her coalition in the tight race.
“I’ve seen a lot of Republicans go up to Liz Cheney and thank her,” said Harris, who sat next to the congressman.
She praised Cheney for her “extraordinary courage” for speaking out after January 6, despite what she called theundercurrent that is violent in language and tenor.’
“I’ve seen Republicans come to her and from my perspective, she’s not alone,” Harris said.
Vice President Harris said she saw Republicans quietly, not publicly, go to Cheney and thank her for her vote
Cheney is one of several anti-Trump Republicans who campaigned for Harris ahead of the election.
It’s Cheney’s first time voting for a Democrat. Her father, former GOP Vice President Dick Cheney, is also endorsing Harris in the 2024 race.
On Tuesday, Susan Ford Bales, the daughter of former Republican President Gerald Ford, became the latest Republican to publicly endorse Harris.
She noted that she likely disagrees on some policy issues, but said she has the right principles that guided her father and should be in the White House because of Trump.
Cheney said of the election on Tuesday: “I think we face a choice in this election. It’s not about celebration, it’s about right and wrong.’
The Democratic vice president and conservative former Republican lawmaker held a series of events in battleground states Tuesday, including one in Royal Oak, MI, where Harris aims to win over Republicans to help her in a tight race for the White House.
She was asked if the decision to speak out publicly in support of Harris was frightening, but she denied it was.
“It wasn’t scary at all to make this decision because when I look at the nature of the threat that Donald Trump poses,” Cheney said.
“Donald Trump is doing everything he can to make people forget what he did, what he did on January 6, and when you think about that level of instability, the level of erratic decision-making, the misogyny, that’s not someone you can control of the Oval Office,” she explained.
Cheney said she could have simply done everything she could to work against Trump and said many Republicans have said that, but argued that she “vI am very proud and honored to support Harris.
During the event, a former Republican member of the Michigan House of Representatives asked about national security and what the U.S. could do to stop Russia from continuing its war in Ukraine.
The conversation with Harris and Cheney in Michigan was moderated by Maria Shriver, a Democrat from the Kennedy family who once served as first lady of California while married to Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. She noted her own experience as she touted the dual event
National security is one of the policy issues on which the two women agree.
Harris said the US has taken a position as a leader in international rules and norms and must support one of the most international norms, which is “protecting sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
She pointed out the “major difference” between her and Trump on the issue, saying national security issues are not about partisanship.
“It’s about where America should stand when it comes to supporting our allies and defending certain principles,” the vice president said.
Cheney warned that there is a “really dangerous embrace of isolationism” and tyrants in the Republican Party. She also lambasted Trump, saying he “praises the most evil people in the world” while “attacking his political opponents here at home with venom.”
The conservative Republican said the US has taken the lead since World War II but cannot do it alone and needs its allies, and criticized Trump for suggesting the US could pull out of NATO.
“For anyone who is a Republican and thinks he or she might vote for Donald Trump because of national security policies, I ask that you please study his national security policies. Not only is it not Republican, it is dangerous,” Cheney said.
“And without allies, America will experience our freedom and security challenges and threats,” she continued, before warning “don’t think Congress can stop him.”
As she spoke, Harris nodded in agreement.
About 15 million people have already voted in the elections
The series of events comes as more than 15 million people have already cast their ballots for the 2024 election, and new polls show Kamala Harris taking a big lead among those who have already voted.
According to a new USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll, Vice President Donald Trump leads roughly two to one with 63 percent to the ex-president’s 34 percent among those who have already voted in the presidential election.
Across the country, many voters are taking advantage of early in-person voting, which is already underway in a number of states and launching in more this week. Voters also have the option to vote by mail through absentee balloting in a number of states.
A poll conducted from October 14 to 18
More than a million ballots have already been cast in the crucial swing states of Georgia, Michigan and North Carolina. Early voting in Florida has also already passed the one million vote mark.
Overall, a third of voters who responded to the poll said they plan to vote early. Among them, Harris led Trump 52 to 39 percent.
But among those who prefer to wait until Election Day to vote, Trump leads 52 percent to 35 percent.
Overall, though, the race seems extremely close. The poll showed Harris at 45 percent and Trump at 44 percent.