Kamala Harris Has a Secret Weapon: Liz Cheney

Liz Cheney is critical to Harris’ attempts to paint Trump as a dangerous demagogue who would run wild both abroad and at home. Harris declared that Trump has been employing the “power of the presidency to demean and to divide us” and that “people are exhausted with that.” Cheney agreed.

Donald Trump has been referring to Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) as prime representatives of the “enemy from within” that he sees as the main threat to America and, incidentally, himself. But if anyone represents a clear and present danger to him, it may be someone from within the conservative camp—Liz Cheney. In the past week or so, Cheney has emerged as Vice President Kamala Harris’ de facto running mate. Call it the revenge of the neocons.

No one is seeking to do more to pave the way for Harris to defeat Trump than Cheney. Forget Barack Obama. Forget Tim Walz. It is Cheney who is currently campaigning with Harris in the key battleground of Pennsylvania. She is not only encouraging Republican women voters to subordinate any concerns they have about abortion rights to electing Harris but also suggesting that the Republican party has exceeded any rational bounds in its opposition to the practice itself: 

“I think there are many of us around the country who have been pro-life but who have watched what’s going on in our states since the Dobbs decision and have watched state legislatures put in place laws that are resulting in women not getting the care they need,” she said. “In places like Texas, for example, the attorney general is talking about suing, is suing, to get access to women’s medical records. That’s not sustainable for us as a country, and it has to change.”

Cheney is critical to Harris’ attempts to paint Trump as a dangerous demagogue who would run wild both abroad and at home. Harris declared that Trump has been employing the “power of the presidency to demean and to divide us” and that “people are exhausted with that.” Cheney agreed. She explained that as a conservative, she regarded with anathema the idea of allowing a “totally erratic, completely unstable” Trump to become commander-in-chief once more. “Our adversaries know that they can play Trump,” she added. “And we cannot afford to take that risk.”

In essence, Harris is practicing bipartisanship even before she finds out whether she can enter the White House. She has already indicated that she would consider Cheney for a cabinet position. It would be easy to envision her as either secretary of state or defense secretary.

Cheney is hardly an isolated figure. On Wednesday, Harris appeared in Bucks County with figures such as former Congressman Adam Kinzinger and Jim Greenwood. Her campaign is increasingly convinced that by appealing to moderate Republicans, Harris can defeat Trump. By appearing with Cheney and other Republicans, Harris is seeking to give them a very public permission slip to support her in November.

Over the past weeks, Trump has been steadily upping his rhetoric, ranging from his talk about internal “enemies” to expressing admiration for the size of Arnold Palmer’s genitalia. The only thing that Trump is doing to dispel the sense that he’s running amok is distancing himself from North Carolina’s Republican nominee for governor. “I’m not familiar with the state of the race right now,” Trump said after he was queried about whether or not he supported Mark Robinson. “I haven’t seen it.”

Cheney is not confining her efforts on behalf of Harris to Pennsylvania. She also plans to appear with her in Detroit and Milwaukee. It would represent the ultimate revenge for Cheney should she end up playing a key role in destroying Trump’s political fortunes. Ostracized from her own party and driven from public office, she is clearly ready to do battle against him. The Bulwark’s Jonathan V. Last refers to Cheney, Harris, and Longwell as the “Valkyries of Democracy.” Will they ride to the rescue?

About the Author: 

Jacob Heilbrunn is Editor of The National Interest and is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. He has written on both foreign and domestic issues for numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, Reuters, Washington Monthly, and The Weekly Standard. He has also written for German publications such as Cicero, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and Der Tagesspiegel.

Image: William A. Smith / Shutterstock.com.