Two House Democrats are crossing party lines to back Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) ahead of her uphill Wyoming Republican primary election battle next week.
Reps. Dean Phillips (D-MN) and Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) heaped praise on Cheney for putting country and principle before politics and even encouraged Democratic voters to consider “temporarily switching parties” to help her fend off stiff competition from her primary challenger.
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“You might be a little surprised that I’d be supporting Liz Cheney in her bid to continue representing Wyoming in the U.S. House, but principle must always come before politics, and nobody has shown more honor, integrity, and courage than she,” Phillips declared in an ad.
“Liz Cheney and I don’t agree on everything,” Malinowski explained in his ad. “But we’re on the same side today, fighting for a country where we settle our differences by voting, not violence.”
Both congressmen encouraged Wyoming Democrats to register to vote in the GOP primary contest in their respective ads. The two ads are running on Facebook and have been funded by Wyomingites Defending Freedom and Democracy, a group that has been supporting Cheney.
Malinowski is widely considered vulnerable to a GOP general election challenger in his newly redrawn 7th Congressional District, and Phillips drew headlines recently for suggesting President Joe Biden shouldn’t seek reelection in 2024.
Cheney’s campaign previously sent out mailers with instructions for Democratic voters on how to switch parties as she looks for ways to stave off Trump-backed attorney Harriet Hageman in the primary race.
Polls have consistently shown Cheney underwater. One poll in July showed Cheney trailing Hageman by 22 percentage points.
A three-term Republican congresswoman, Cheney rose through Republican ranks, ascending to the No. 3 rank of chairwoman of the House Republican Conference during her second term.
However, that all began to change when she bucked her party with scathing criticisms of former President Donald Trump and the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Drawing fierce ire from the Republican base, she was ousted from her No. 3 spot during an intraparty mutiny and became a top target of the MAGA world. Trump, in particular, has repeatedly directed his followers to vote her out of office.
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But Cheney, who serves as vice chairwoman of the House Jan. 6 committee, has earned praise from many Democrats for bucking her own party.
In recent days, Cheney has received support from Yellowstone star Kevin Costner and her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, who cut an ad praising her “for standing up for the truth” and condemning Trump. Dick Cheney’s ad for his daughter is expected to air on Fox News ahead of the hotly anticipated primary race, Axios reported.
