Liz Cheney, who endorsed and then campaigned with Vice President Kamala Harris, is calling on Americans to accept former President Donald Trump as the new president-elect.
“Our nation’s democratic system functioned last night and we have a new President-elect. All Americans are bound, whether we like the outcome or not, to accept the results of our elections,” she wrote on X early Wednesday morning.
Cheney, a former Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives, became a staunch critic of Trump after he refused to accept the results of the 2020 election.
Now, she’s urging Harris supporters not to repeat Trump’s mistakes.
“We now have a special responsibility, as citizens of the greatest nation on earth, to do everything we can to support and defend our Constitution, preserve the rule of law, and ensure that our institutions hold over these coming four years. Citizens across this country, our courts, members of the press and those serving in our federal, state and local governments must now be the guardrails of democracy,” she wrote.
In the lead-up to Tuesday’s election, Cheney had spoken repeatedly about the risks of a Trump return to the White House and urged conservatives to reject Trump and “put our country and our Constitution above partisanship,” as the Deseret News previously reported.
She supported Harris’ efforts to win over Republican voters through a series of town halls.
“No matter what your policy views are — no matter if you are a conservative Republican or not — Donald Trump cannot be trusted with power,” Cheney said in early September.
She continued, “Donald Trump, if he is reelected, will be far more dangerous than we have ever seen before.”
The 2024 election was called for Trump early Wednesday morning, as the Deseret News previously reported.
Trump is on his way to claiming all seven swing states.
Just days before the election, Trump faced criticism for comments he made about Cheney during an event in Arizona, as the Deseret News previously reported.
He said that “war hawks” like Cheney would change their tune if they had to go to war themselves.
“Let’s put (Cheney) with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her, OK? Let’s see how she feels about it. You know, when the guns are trained on her face,” Trump said.
Critics said violent rhetoric like that has no place in American politics. Trump’s team said that his comments had been misinterpreted and that his point was that people often call for war without understanding the cost of war.
Arizona’s attorney general is looking into whether Trump’s comments qualify as an unlawful death threat, the Deseret News reported.