(The Hill) — Former Vice President Dick Cheney calls former President Donald Trump a “coward” and a “threat to our Republic” in a new ad for his daughter, U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., who is facing a primary challenger backed by the former president.
The ad featuring the former GOP vice president’s lacerating take on Trump was released Thursday, weeks before voters go to the polls.
“In our nation’s 246-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our Republic than Donald Trump. He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him,” Dick Cheney says in the one-minute ad titled “He Knows It.”
“He is a coward. A real man wouldn’t lie to his supporters. He lost his election and he lost big. I know it, he knows it and deep down I think most Republicans know it,” Dick Cheney continues.
Liz Cheney voted to impeach Trump and lost her position in GOP leadership over her views. She is now the vice chair of the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Dick Cheney said that he and his wife were “proud” of their “fearless” daughter, saying she was “honoring her oath to the Constitution.”
“There is nothing more important she will ever do than lead the effort to make sure Donald Trump is never again near the Oval Office. And she will succeed. I am Dick Cheney. I proudly voted for my daughter. I hope you will too,” he says at the end of the ad.
Liz Cheney is fighting for her political life ahead of her primary on Aug. 16 as she faces Trump-backed challenger Harriet Hageman.
Cheney drew the ire of Trump after she became one of 10 Republicans to vote to impeach him over his role in the Jan. 6 attack.
She has enlisted the help of top Wyoming names such as former Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wyo., who appeared in a campaign ad for her in June. Earlier this week, she touted a picture of actor Kevin Costner, who wore a shirt saying “I’m for Liz Cheney.”
A poll released last month by the Casper Star-Tribune showed Cheney trailing Hageman by more than 20%, at 30% and 52% respectively.
The Hill has reached out to a Trump spokesperson for comment.