US presidential election 2024: Dick Cheney says he will vote for Kamala Harris, hits out at Donald Trump
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Former United States (US) vice president and Republican Dick Cheney will vote for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in the upcoming presidential election. In a statement, Cheney hit out at the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump by saying, "never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump."
"He (Trump)tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him.He can never be trusted with power again," Cheney 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," he added.
Harris' campaign reacts to Cheney's endorsement
According to Harris' campaign chairperson Jen O'Malley Dillion, "The vice-president is proud to have the support of Vice-President Cheney, and deeply respects his courage to put country over party."
Cheney now joins a list of Republican lawmakers who have expressed concerns about the candidacy of Trump. Cheney's daughter andRepublican lawmaker Liz is already backing Kamala Harris for the November 5 election.
She was a part of the Houseselect committee investigating the 6 January Capitol riots. Liz was alsoone of 10 Republicans to vote to impeach Trump after the incident.
'Irrelevant RINO'
Reacting to Cheney's statement, Trump called the former vice president a RINO- which stands for "Republican in name only." He also calledCheney the "King of Endless, Nonsensical Wars" - alluding to his role in the Iraq war.
Cheney served as vice president under Republican President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2009.
He has faced criticism over the years from human rights groups as he played a large role in planning the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which produced a heavy civilian death toll and human rights abuses.
In the case of Iraq, the war was based on lies that Baghdad had weapons of mass destruction that were never found.
Harris' campaign accepts rules of Sept 10 debate
In the latest news from the run-up to the election, the Harris campaignhas accepted the rules of next week's debate against Trump, including microphones being muted when it is not a candidate's turn to speak.
The September 10 debate hosted by ABC News would be the first between Trump andHarris, who took over as the Democratic candidate from President Joe Biden following his decision to step aside on July 21 after a faltering debate performance in late June against the former president.