Democrats welcome former boogeyman Dick Cheney to the big tent
Democrats have welcomed an unexpected new ally into the big tent, former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney, who two decades ago was viewed by many on the left as a bully and a villain.
In a statement Friday, Cheney said ""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. 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."
Many Democrats openly disdained Cheney's time as vice president, when he was an outspoken advocate for the Iraq War during the presidency of George W. Bush. He attacked former President Barack Obama on foreign policy and national security and called him the "worst president of my lifetime". Cheney once questioned the Republican bona fides of former Secretary of State Colin Powell for endorsing Obama.
He endorsed Trump's successful run for presidency in 2016, but lost faith in Trump after the Jan. 6. 2021 insurrection, calling Trump a "coward" in a campaign ad for his daughter.
More: Dick Cheney says he will vote for Harris in 2024 and issues stark warning about Trump
Harris' campaign quickly jumped to thank Cheney for his vote, with campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon saying in a statement that Harris "deeply respects his courage to put country over party.”
It is an unexpected odd bedfellows moment in American history where once prominent Republican families have aligned to either vote for the Democratic nominee or not vote at all in an effort to keep their own party nominee from securing power once again.
Cheney, who served as vice president from 2001 to 2009 and served in other Republican administrations and in Congress, once epitomized the conservative party. His defection and public support for Harris is one of the most significant in a time where only one former member of a Republican presidential ticket ? former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin?has outright said she will support Trump in November.
Others including former president George W. Bush, former vice president Mike Pence, former White House chief of staff John Kelly and Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, who was the GOP presidential candidate in 2012, have not endorsed a second Trump term, but also have not supported Harris.
None spoke during the Republican National Convention in July.
Cheney's daughter former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo, announced earlier in the day that like she would, her father would support Harris. Liz Cheney helped lead the House Committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection which found that Trump's false claims that he had won the 2020 election stoked violence and that he failed to intervene to call off rioters.
Trump responded on social media by calling the former vice president a "Republican in Name Only."
"He’s the King of Endless, Nonsensical Wars, wasting Lives and Trillions of Dollars, just like Comrade Kamala Harris,” the former president wrote on Truth Social. “I am the Peace President, and only I will stop World War III!” He also reiterated previous statements that Liz Cheney should be prosecuted for working on the House committee.
Democrats seemed a bit unsure how to deal with having their coalition spread from far-left progressives like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. to the man they once considered the boogey man.
"“I’m not used to agreeing with one Cheney, let alone two, but I continue to respect Liz Cheney for putting country over party,” Rep. Seth Moulton D-Mass., wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Her endorsements speak volumes about the threat posed by Donald Trump at a time when so few Republicans have the courage to speak up and do the same.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The Democratic tent now spans from AOC to Dick Cheney