RIPON, Wisc. (AP) — Liz Cheney, one of Donald Trump’s fiercest Republican antagonists, rallied with Kamala Harris on Thursday at the site in Wisconsin where the modern Republican Party was born, as the Democratic vice president aimed to win over moderate voters and rattle the former president. The daughter of former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney, former Rep. Liz Cheney was the top GOP lawmaker on the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, earning Trump’s disdain and effectively exiling herself from her own party. “Violence does not and must never determine who rules us. Voters do,” Cheney told the crowd as she recounted Trump refusing to act as he watched the violent attack on television. Someone in the crowd yelled “coward!” Others booed. “He praised the rioters. He did not condemn them. That’s who Donald Trump is,” Cheney said. She lost her Wyoming seat to a Trump-endorsed candidate two years ago and she endorsed Harris, the Democratic nominee, last month. The two women appeared together in Ripon, home to a white schoolhouse where a series of meetings held in 1854 to oppose slavery’s expansion led to the start of the Republican Party. “I know that she loves our country, and I know she will be a president for all Americans” Cheney said of Harris. Noting that she herself remains conservative, Cheney said she was “honored to join her in this urgent cause.” Instead of her usual “Harris-Walz” campaign signs, the stage was decorated with large signs that said “Country Over Party,” along with plenty of red, white and blue bunting. Harris was opening a two-day trip to Wisconsin and Michigan, and Trump was in Michigan on Thursday as the two candidates grapple for wins in the “blue wall” battleground states, which also include Pennsylvania.
