Republican Dick Cheney to vote for Kamala Harris for US president, daughter says

The former vice president has been an outspoken critic of Donald Trump

Liz Cheney with her father, former vice president Dick Cheney, before voting at a polling site in Wyoming in 2022. Washington Post / AP

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Former US vice president Dick Cheney, a lifelong Republican, will vote for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in this year's presidential election, his daughter Liz Cheney said on Friday.

Ms Cheney, who herself endorsed Ms Harris on Thursday, made the announcement when asked by Mark Leibovich of The Atlantic magazine during an onstage interview at The Texas Tribune Festival in Austin.

“Dick Cheney will be voting for Kamala Harris,” Ms Cheney said to audience cheers.

“Wow,” Leibovich replied.

Mr Cheney put out a statement on Friday confirming his endorsement, which read almost entirely as opposition to Mr Trump rather than support of Ms Harris.

“He can never be trusted with power again,” the statement said.

“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.”

Mr Cheney has been friends with Democrats over the years but never supported one for president.

Like his daughter, Mr Cheney has been an outspoken critic of former president Donald Trump, notably during Ms Cheney's ill-fated re-election campaign in 2022.

In a campaign advertisement for Ms Cheney as she sought a fourth term as Wyoming's lone representative, Mr Cheney called Mr Trump a “coward” for trying to “steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him”.

The advertisement did little good for his daughter in a deeply conservative state that once held the Cheney family dear but is now thoroughly in Mr Trump's corner. By a two-to-one margin, Ms Cheney lost her Republican primary to Trump-endorsed lawyer Harriet Hageman.

Notably absent from Friday's endorsement announcement was the former vice president, who has made few if any public appearances over the past year or more.

Her announcement on a vote for Ms Harris was made at an event at Duke University a day prior. In a video posted on the social media network X, she finished by talking about the “danger” she believed Mr Trump still poses to the country.

“I don’t believe that we have the luxury of writing in candidates’ names, particularly in swing states,” she said.

“As a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the constitution, I have thought deeply about this. 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.”

Ms Harris's campaign chairwoman Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement to the Associated Press on Wednesday night: “The Vice President is proud to have earned Congresswoman Cheney’s vote. She is a patriot who loves this country and puts our democracy and our constitution first.”