Liz Cheney teams up with Kamala Harris to warn Michiganders against second Trump term 

Former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney is putting her “country over party” and urging Michiganders to vote for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. 

ROYAL OAK—Former Congresswoman Liz Cheney, a lifelong Republican and daughter of ex-Vice President Dick Cheney, offered some advice to her fellow, conservative-minded voters in Michigan this week during a live, moderated discussion with Vice President Kamala Harris: 

It’s time to abandon ex-President Donald Trump and his campaign for a second term, she said.

“I think we are facing a choice in this election. It’s not about [political] party. It’s about right and wrong,” Cheney told voters during a campaign stop at the Royal Oak Music Theatre on Monday afternoon. “In this election, we need to elect the person who is the responsible adult.”

With less than two weeks until Election Day, Cheney is teaming up with the Harris-Walz campaign to urge Michiganders to reject Trump and vote for Harris—who she said is “extremely qualified” to serve as president and can be trusted to “put the good of this country first.”

“Everyone who watched Jan. 6 knows what Trump is willing to do. He lost the election. He tried to overturn it and seize power, and then he sat in his dining room and watched the attack on television. … That’s depravity,” Cheney said. “As a mother, I want my children to know that there is someone in the Oval Office that they can look up to, someone who can be a role model.”

AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

In an otherwise contentious election cycle, where Trump has already tried to cast doubt on this year’s election results, this week’s event marked a relatively rare display of bipartisan unity. 

Banners behind the stage read “Country Over Party” and “A NEW WAY FORWARD.”

“We are all here together because we have many things in common,” Harris told the crowd. “First and foremost, we love our country. … I think most of us believe, regardless of your political affiliation, that the real measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you lift up.”

Like Cheney, Harris also urged voters to take Trump’s rhetoric—and the Republican-led Project 2025 agenda—more seriously, rather than simply writing it off as some “sick sense of humor.” 

“The consequences of [Trump] being in the White House again are brutally serious,” Harris said. “Some people find it humorous what he says and think it’s just silly. But understand how brutally serious it is. … Anyone who has openly said that he would terminate the Constitution of the United States should never again stand behind the seal of the President of the United States.”

Cheney also described Trump as a malignant force that must be excised from American politics—particularly because of his long track record of denying valid election results. In contrast, Harris would “honor and respect all perspectives and points of view,” Cheney said.

“I’m not going to agree on every issue, but we have to have leaders who take that seriously. We have to have leaders who are going to be sincere,” Cheney told the crowd in Royal Oak. 

Cheney was essentially exiled from the Republican Party for participating in a congressional investigation of Trump’s involvement in the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol. She lost her congressional seat in a primary battle two years ago and has since endorsed Harris’ campaign.

During this week’s campaign stop, Harris also described Trump as a “cruel” figure who has “exhausted” Michigan voters with his divisive political rhetoric. And she also urged Michiganders, regardless of their political affiliation, not to lose hope for the future of the country.

“Let us look at the challenge that we are being presented and not be overwhelmed by it. The baton is now in our hands to fight for, not against, this country,” Harris said. “That’s what we have the power to do. … Let’s not let the overwhelming nature of this strip us of our strength.”

In response to this week’s events with Harris, Trump has lashed out at Cheney on social media, calling her “dumb as a rock” and accusing her of being a “war hawk.” Still, Cheney reminded attendees that “you can vote your conscience and not ever have to say a word to anybody.”

“It’s really important for people to think very carefully about the power that we’re going to invest in the president and what it would mean to give that power to Donald Trump,” Cheney added.

The more intimate setting of the small theater in downtown Royal Oak, where attendees were able to ask direct questions of both Cheney and Harris, also marked a bit of a shift for the Harris campaign, which has otherwise focused mostly on large rallies with thousands of people.

Beyond using the opportunity to reintroduce herself to Michiganders, Harris also shared what she’s been doing to ease some of her own anxieties ahead of Election Day, which she said has included many sleepless nights amid broader concerns for the future of American democracy.

“I work out. I try to eat well. I love my family and I make sure that I talk to the kids and my husband,” Harris told voters this week. “My family grounds me in every way.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

READ MORE: Ex-Republican congressman says Trump turned the party into a ‘cult’

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