Former Rep. Liz Cheney says she’s a conservative but Trump is not

Former Rep. Liz Cheney on Sunday slammed former President Donald Trump as “not a conservative.”

The Republican Ms. Cheney said on ABC’s “This Week” that, “the trash-talking of the United States of America very much is part of the message that Donald Trump is pushing.”

“So at the end of the day, I think it’s important for people to recognize he’s not a conservative,” the former Wyoming congresswoman said.

Ms. Cheney has been an outspoken critic of Mr. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, and has said she will vote for Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee. Her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, also will vote for Ms. Harris.

On “This Week, Ms. Cheney labeled herself as a conservative when asked if she is still a Republican.

“I’m certainly not a Trump Republican. I’m a conservative,” Ms. Cheney said. “I think that what’s happened to the Republican Party today is indefensible, and I hope to be able to rebuild as I said, after this cycle.”

She said the first vote she ever cast was for Ronald Reagan. She said she has never voted for a Democrat.

“That is not the party of Ronald Reagan, and I believe strongly that if you’re talking about a national security set of issues and you care about America’s leadership role in the world, a vote for Vice President Harris is the right vote to make this time around,” Ms. Cheney said.

She also said Ms. Harris’ speech at the Democratic National Convention last month was one that Reagan could have given.

“You contrast that with what we hear from Donald Trump, again, on a daily basis, that America is a failing nation, that America is a laughing stock,” she said.

When asked who she thought Reagan would be supporting if he were alive, she said “there is absolutely no chance” he would be supporting Mr. Trump.

“Donald Trump doesn’t stand for any of the things that Ronald Reagan did,” she said. “And it’s another place where I would urge my Republican colleagues, both in the Congress but across the country, to really look at Donald Trump’s policies, to really look at the danger that he presents, to look at, you know, what he was willing to do to stay in power.”

She said other anti-Trump Republicans, such as Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, former Vice President Mike Pence and former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who is running for the Senate, should make the final move and vote for Ms. Harris over Mr. Trump.

“I would say given the closeness of this election, particularly if you are going to find yourself voting in a swing state, you’ve got to take the extra step,” Ms. Cheney said. “If you really do recognize the threat that Donald Trump poses, then it’s not enough to simply say I’m not going to vote for him.”

She pointed out that “it’s a secret ballot.”

“So I would prefer to have as many people as possible out publicly making the case,” she said. “But at the end of the day, you just have to wrestle with your own conscience when you’re there in the voting booth.”

Mr. Trump bashed Dick Cheney and Liz Cheney as an “irrelevant RINO” (Republican in name only) when he found out the former vice president is endorsing Ms. Harris.

“Dick Cheney is an irrelevant RINO, along with his daughter, who lost by the largest margin in the History of Congressional Races,” Mr. Trump posted Friday on Truth Social.