Liz Cheney Will Campaign With Harris In Wisconsin

WASHINGTON (AP) Liz Cheney, one of Donald Trump s fiercest Republican antagonists, will join Democrat Kamala Harris at a campaign event in Wisconsin  on Thursday aimed at reaching out to moderate voters and rattling the former president.

Cheney was the top Republican  on the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection , earning Trumps disdain and effectively exiling herself from her own party.

She lost her Wyoming seat  to a Trump-endorsed candidate two years ago and she endorsed Harris , the Democratic nominee, last month. The two women will appear together at a college in Ripon, home to a white schoolhouse where a series of meetings held in 1854 to oppose slaverys expansion led to the birth of the Republican Party .

Harris is opening a two-day trip to Wisconsin and Michigan, and Trump will be in Michigan on Thursday as the two candidates grapple for wins in the blue wall battleground states, which also include Pennsylvania.

President Joe Biden said Thursday that he wasnt concerned about a Trump-Harris race coming down to the wire because it always gets this close.

Shes gonna do fine, Biden said of Harris to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House on his way to visit storm-ravaged Georgia and Florida. He added that Harris running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, did well in his debate with Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance during Tuesdays debate  in New York.

The other guy lost the debate, Biden said. He misrepresented everything.

Harris visit to Wisconsin also comes one day after a federal judge unsealed  a 165-page court filing outlining prosecutors case against Trump for his attempt to overturn his 2020 election defeat. Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy and obstruction.

Its uncommon, to say the least, for a candidate to give a nod to the origins of the opposing party in the closing weeks of a presidential campaign. Not only that, the Cheney name was once anathema to Democrats  who deplored Dick Cheney, Lizs father, for his role as vice president under George W. Bush.

During the 2020 campaign, Liz Cheney criticized Harris as a radical liberal who wants to recreate America in the image of whats happening on the streets of Portland & Seattle, a reference to unrest that took place in those cities after the murder of George Floyd.

But Jan. 6 was a turning point for Liz Cheney and her family. Both Cheneys are backing Harris, part of a cadre of current and former Republican officials who have broken with the vast majority of their party, which remains in Trumps corner. Harris wants to portray her candidacy as a patriotic choice for independent and conservative voters who were disturbed by Trumps unwillingness to cede power. Trump continues to deny his defeat with false claims of voter fraud.

Harris on Friday will hold a campaign rally in Flint, Michigan, continuing her tour of states that have been critical to Democratic victories. Trump won Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan in 2016, and Joe Biden won them in 2020.

Trump on Thursday will hold a rally in Saginaw County, a bellwether in the center of the state.

The Republican candidate has ramped up his focus on Michigan, holding two rallies there less than a week ago. In 2020, Bidens win in Saginaw County by a slim 303 votes contributed to his victory in the state.

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Associated Press writer Joey Cappelletti in Lansing, Michigan, contributed to this report.