MSNBC host Rachel Maddow characterized the significance of Dick and Liz Cheney endorsing Vice President Harris in the 2024 presidential election as “like mice endorsing cats.”
“I mean, it’s bananas, it’s like mice endorsing cats, you know what I mean,” Maddow said during her Tuesday appearance on ABC’s “The View.”
The host of “The Rachel Maddow Show” said the endorsement of both the former Republican vice president and the former No. 3 Republican in the House leadership showcased how much this election cycle is divorced from “normal” politics.
Maddow, a frequent critic of former President Trump, emphasized that she disagrees with the Cheneys on most policy issues.
“Vampires endorsing garlic. It doesn’t even compute. But that tells you how far away we are from normal politics in this election,” Maddow said. “This is not about, oh, we have difference of opinion about taxes or foreign policy. This is about, are we going to have the American system of government anymore? And there are almost no things on which I agree with Dick Cheney, but Dick Cheney and I agree that we should keep the American system of government.”
Maddow, a frequent former President Trump critic, was then asked by “The View” co-host Joy Behar if the support from the Cheney family would make a difference.
“Maybe, endorsements can be oversold in terms of what they do, but it is a powerful message I think to say, ‘we can disagree on most things in politics, but agree that we need stand up for keeping elections.’ This system by which if you are voted out, you have to leave and you don’t get to mount a riot to try to stay,” she said in response. “To understand the pro-democracy coalition is much bigger than any one party and that’s in this election, that’s the Harris coalition.”
Former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney confirmed last week that he will be backing Harris. He issued a statement shortly after his daughter, former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), announced her father’s support for the Democratic nominee during her interview at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin. Liz Cheney said just days prior that she would be voting for Harris, despite being a lifelong conservative.
Cheney, who has been a vocal Trump critic, called on Republicans who oppose Trump privately to publicly come out in support of Harris.
“I would also remind them, you know what? It’s a secret ballot. So, I would prefer to have as many people as possible publicly making the case,” Cheney said on Sunday. “But at the end of the day, you just have to wrestle with your own conscience when you’re there in the voting booth. And I would expect that you will see far more Republicans and independents, you know, when the time comes, and they’ve got to make that decision, make the right decision.”
