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In the symbolic birthplace of the Republican Party, Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned Wednesday alongside former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney — a display of political unity with little modern precedent as Harris continues her effort to win over moderate and Republican voters ahead of Election Day.

“Vice President Harris is standing in the breach at a critical moment in our nation’s history. She is working to unite reasonable people from all across the political spectrum,” Cheney told the crowd in Ripon, Wisconsin. “I know that she loves our country and I know that she will be a president for all Americans.”

It’s a remarkable turn for Cheney, who came to prominence as a hardline conservative and fierce critic of former President Barack Obama, even expressing sympathy for those who believed the lie originated by former President Donald Trump that he was not born in the United States.

In the past four years, Cheney has instead transformed into an outspoken critic of Trump, becoming the top House Republican on the committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. She lost her seat in Congress in 2022 as a result. In September, she endorsed Harris for president — and said her father, the former vice president, would be doing the same. 

The Jan. 6 attack featured prominently in Cheney’s remarks on Wednesday, where she said Trump’s support for the insurrectionists should disqualify him from the presidency. 

“What January 6 showed us is there is not an ounce of compassion in Donald Trump. He is petty, he is vindictive, and he is cruel. And Donald Trump is not fit to lead this great nation,” she said, surrounded by banners reading: “Country Over Party.”

Harris’ appearance with Cheney in Wisconsin — one of the states that could decide the presidential election — shows an aggressive effort to court moderate Democrats and Republican voters who may be hesitant to vote for the GOP nominee. Her campaign has also touted endorsements from former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, and a host of former Trump White House officials. 

“Through all my decades in law enforcement I never asked a victim or a witness, ‘Are you a Republican or a Democrat?’ The only question I asked is, ‘Are you ok?’ And that is the kind of president you deserve, and I pledge to you that is the kind of president I will be,” Harris said.

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