Former Representative Liz Cheney’s announcement that her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, would be crossing party lines and voting for Kamala Harris shocked many people on social media.
And, frankly, many weren’t sure how to feel.
The former Wyoming congresswoman announced the news Friday at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin, one day after she shared that she was endorsing Harris over Donald Trump.
Although audience members applauded Cheney’s announcement, many people on X, formerly Twitter, said it was a sign that things had gotten really bad for the GOP.
As one person put it, “How awful is Donald Trump? Dick Cheney is voting for his opponent who is a female democrat. That’s how awful he is.”
Dick Cheney previously denounced Trump in a 2022 ad for his daughter’s failed reelection campaign.
This time around, some people praised the Cheneys for putting country over party, but others weren’t thrilled by the announcement.
That’s because many people aren’t necessarily fans of the former vice president, whose stance on torture during the war in Iraq led to him being accused of being a war criminal.
That led one user to make a dark joke about how hard Cheney’s decision must have been for him.
Mehdi Hasan was also torn by the news, since he believes Dick Cheney “should be on trial at the Hague,” but that Trump is “an existential threat to American democracy.”
Another person referenced another infamous Dick Cheney moment ― the time he shot a friend in the face while on a hunting trip ― for another dark joke.
“Maybe Dick Cheney would serve Harris better if he went hunting with trump,” the person posted.
Others had different reasons for being a little taken aback with his decision.
Although the announcement was probably intended to show skittish “never Trumpers” that it’s OK to vote for a d-d-d-Democrat, some party members weren’t sold on the idea.