Liz Cheney once said she regretted voting for Donald Trump in 2020. But she took her criticism leagues forward on Sunday, calling Trump a “depraved” man who threatens to plunge the U.S. into chaos.
“The Republicans have nominated somebody who, you know, is depraved,” the former Wyoming congresswoman told ABC’s Jonathan Karl on Sunday’s This Week. “Somebody who shows us every day that, you know, he has tendencies and he’s willing to embrace things that are fundamentally a danger to this nation and to our Constitution.”
Cheney endorsed Kamala Harris on Wednesday during an appearance at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy due to the “danger Donald Trump poses.” She announced the support of her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, for Harris on Friday.
In her Sunday interview, Cheney—who said she had never voted for a Democrat—said she conferred with Harris as she gave her endorsement. She also lambasted Republicans who’ve said they would write the name of an alternative candidate instead of voting for Trump.
“That’s not enough,” Cheney said. “It’s important to actually cast a vote for Vice President Harris.”
Karl pressed Cheney on Harris’ past embrace of Medicare for All and abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, policies the vice president has sought to moderate in recent weeks to tone down the appearance of progressivism. “Would you still have been able to endorse Kamala Harris if it was the Kamala Harris of 2019 and 2020?” Karl asked.
Cheney said she thought Harris had changed her position on some issues in “very important ways” and argued the stakes of the election outweighed any policy differences.
“I would encourage independents to compare where she is today with Donald Trump on these issues,” Cheney said. “I think from a policy perspective, it is very important to recognize the change, to recognize that she understands that this election is going to require a coalition of people from across the political spectrum supporting her.”
“The choice, in my view, is not a close one,” Cheney added.
