Liz Cheney, in swing state of NC, reveals she will vote for Kamala Harris for president

Former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican, told an audience at Duke University on Wednesday that she is going to vote for Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris for president.

Cheney said because she was speaking in Durham — in the swing state of North Carolina — it’s “crucially important” for people to understand the “danger” that GOP former President Donald Trump poses.

“I don’t believe that we have the luxury of writing in candidates’ names, particularly in swing states,” Cheney said, according to video posted on X, formerly Twitter.

“And as a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this,” Cheney said. “And 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.”

In a statement Wednesday night, Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said Harris is “proud to have earned” Cheney’s endorsement, and called Cheney “a patriot who loves this country and puts our democracy and our Constitution first.”

“This election is a choice between the fundamental threat Donald Trump poses to our democracy and a leader who will stand up for our freedoms and the rule of law in Vice President Harris,” O’Malley Dillon said.

“Vice President Harris will be a president for all Americans, regardless of political party,” she said. “For any American who is looking to reject the chaos and division of Donald Trump, turn the page, and pursue a new way forward that protects our freedoms and defends the American values we all believe in, there is a place for you in the Harris-Walz coalition, and we will continue working to earn your support.”

Cheney was at Duke for a conversation on “Defending Democracy,” presented by the Sanford School of Public Policy.

Cheney is the daughter of former Dick Cheney, who was vice president under George W. Bush. She represented Wyoming in Congress from 2017 to 2023 and was chair of the House Republican Conference from 2019 to 2021.

She has been a regular critic of Trump and served as vice chair of the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack. She ran for reelection but lost in the 2022 primary.

She’s the latest high-profile Republican to endorse Harris in her bid for president. Multiple former Trump administration staffers spoke at the Democratic National Convention, with former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger giving a prime-time endorsement of Harris.

Harris courting conservative voters

The New York Times reported last week that Cheney planned to weigh in soon on the presidential race.

Instead of appearing at the DNC, The Times reported, Cheney had decided to speak after the convention at a time “when she could maximize her impact on the outcome of the race.”

The Times also reported that the Harris campaign had reached out directly to Cheney and her team, courting an endorsement.

Cheney’s endorsement comes as the Harris campaign and its allies are making efforts to pull away moderate and conservative voters who are disillusioned by Trump and the Republican Party as he has shaped it.

In Harris’ first interview with a news outlet since ascending to the top of the Democratic ticket, she told CNN last week that she would appoint a Republican to her cabinet if elected, saying that doing so would “be of benefit to the American public.”

Responding to the endorsement, N.C. Republican Party spokesman Matt Mercer said, “Washington, D.C. liberals like Liz Cheney stick together, in this case in their support of the most dangerously radical left-wing Presidential nominee in history.”

On X, a Trump campaign account meanwhile pointed to Cheney’s past comments about Harris, made after she was tapped by future-President Joe Biden to be his running mate.

In that clip, Cheney said on Fox News in August 2020 that Harris was a “radical liberal” and that her voting record in the U.S. Senate “is to the left of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.”

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