Liz Cheney Reacts to Mike Pence Endorsement Decision
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Liz Cheney, the vocally anti-Trump former GOP congresswoman, shared a reaction to former Vice President Mike Pence’s recent 2024 endorsement decision.
Pence, who served as vice president under former President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2021, announced Friday during a Fox News appearance that he would not be endorsing his one-time running mate in the 2024 election. Trump passed the necessary delegate amount to become the presumptive GOP nominee for president last week, after polling well-ahead of all rivals throughout the primary.
In the announcement, Pence cited his belief that Trump was not articulating a political agenda that he could support. Pence himself ran for the nomination, but dropped out in October. Many online also noted that many of the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot participants explicitly called for targeting Pence during the certification of the 2020 election, with Trump being widely accused of stoking these sentiments with his dubious claims that his vice president had the authority to throw out the election results.
“It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year,” Pence said. “During my presidential campaign, I made it clear that there were profound differences between me and President Trump on a range of issues.”
He added: “Donald Trump is pursuing and articulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on during our four years. And that’s why I cannot in good conscience endorse Donald Trump in this campaign.”
Former Representative Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican, is seen in Jackson, Wyoming, on August 16, 2022. Cheney on Friday reacted to Mike Pence’s decision not to endorse Donald Trump for president. Former Representative Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican, is seen in Jackson, Wyoming, on August 16, 2022. Cheney on Friday reacted to Mike Pence’s decision not to endorse Donald Trump for president. Alex Wong/Getty Images
In reaction to the announcement, conservative lawyer George Conway took to X, formerly Twitter, to ask Cheney, the former at-large representative for Wyoming, if she knew any other former GOP vice presidents who opposed Trump as the party nominee.
In response, Cheney wrote, “As a matter of fact I do,” and shared a clip of her father Dick Cheney voicing his opposition to Trump. Dick Cheney previously served as vice president under former President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2009.
“In our nation’s 246-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump,” Dick Cheney said in the video. “He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He is a coward. A real man wouldn’t lie to his supporters. He lost his election, and he lost big. I know it. He knows it, and deep down, I think most Republicans know.”
The video originated from August 2022 as a reelection ad for Cheney during that year’s midterm election cycle. As a notable and vocal anti-Trump member of the House GOP, Cheney faced major headwinds from the pro-Trump party base and from the former president himself. She ultimately lost reelection to Harriet Hageman, who had been endorsed by Trump.
Newsweek reached out to Trump’s office via email for comment on Saturday morning.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.