Liz Cheney, one of Donald Trump’s fiercest Republican antagonists, is set to join Democrat Kamala Harris at a campaign event in Wisconsin on Thursday, October 3, 2024.
Cheney’s appearance is aimed at reaching out to moderate voters and rattling the former US President.
The two women will appear together in a historic white schoolhouse in Ripon, where a series of meetings held in 1854 to oppose slavery’s expansion led to the birth of the Republican Party.
This comes as Harris is opening a two-day stay in Wisconsin and Michigan.
Cheney, the former representative of Wyoming and daughter of the former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney, endorsed Harris for President last month.
Thursday will be Cheney’s first campaign appearance with Harris since the endorsement.
Cheney voted to impeach Trump after the January 6 insurrection and was the top Republican on the House committee that investigated the insurrection, earning Trump’s disdain and effectively exiling herself from her own party.
Her father, who was seen as an influential figure during the presidency of George W Bush, endorsed Harris a couple of days after she did, saying that there had “never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump.”
Hundreds of former and current Republican officials in the military, national security and local governments have publicly backed Harris for President.
In a further bid to appeal to more moderate Republican voters and independents, Harris is expected to praise Cheney at the event for what she will describe as her patriotism and commitment of putting country before party.
In her speech, Harris will say that she will uphold the constitution and the rule of law if she wins the November presidential election, stressing that her outlook is not dictated by rigid ideology.
Trump To Be In Michigan
Also on Thursday, former US President, Donald Trump will be in Michigan as the two presidential candidates grapple for wins in the “blue wall” battleground states, which also include Pennsylvania.
He is scheduled to hold a rally in Saginaw County, a bellwether in the center of the state.
The Republican presidential candidate has ramped up his focus on Michigan, holding two rallies there less than a week ago.
In 2020, Biden’s win in Saginaw County by a slim 303 votes contributed to his victory in the state.
Meanwhile, Harris on Friday, October 4, 2024, will hold a campaign rally in Flint, Michigan, continuing her tour of states that have been critical to Democratic victories.
Trump won Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan in 2016, and Joe Biden won them in 2020.
Wisconsin is a battleground state both Harris and Trump are eager to win. Trump in particular is probably going to need to take the so-called Badger state, one of the closest swing states of recent elections.
In 2016, he won the state by less than 1% of the vote and then lost it four years later by an even narrower margin.
Recent polling shows Harris is struggling to gain traction with Republican voters despite already having moderated many of her positions on key policy areas to appeal to them.
She abandoned her opposition to fracking and private healthcare, for example. Harris is also alienating many Democratic voters by staunchly supporting Israel, despite its war on Gaza and invasion of Lebanon.
While Harris led Trump 47% to 40% among all voters in a 20-23 September Reuters/Ipsos poll, only 5% of the poll’s Republican respondents said that they would back her in the election.
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