Dick Cheney will be voting for Kamala
Harris. That's not a deepfake. That was that was actually said today. Former Republican Congresswoman staunch
Trump critic Liz Cheney making that news earlier today in Texas
that her father, the very Republican, very conservative vice president,
two terms is going to vote for progressive
Democrat Kamala Harris. I'm back with my panel. Joining us is former Trump White House
communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin,
who is a Trump critic as well. Your reaction? Listen, I'm not surprised. Liz Cheney, someone who put her
career on the line to do it, was right. She has been a vocal critic
of the former president since January six,
and she's endorsed Democrats before. She supported Abigail Spanberger over
Elissa Slotkin. I think this is noteworthy. We've talked a lot this election, about the so-called Nikki
Haley voters, this roughly 20% of primary voters
who voted turn out to vote against Trump in the primary and even kept voting
after Nikki Haley was out of the race. Those voters are better understood
as Liz Cheney voters. There are people
who are reliable Republicans, probably with them in 2016,
probably with him in 2020. But January six was a bridge too far. Not supporting
Ukraine is a bridge too far, and that's enough voters
to potentially sway the election. What do you think? Well, President
Trump has the support of Nikki Haley. So if I'm working on the Trump campaign,
she spoke at the RNC, I would deploy Nikki Haley
into the seven battleground states that actually matter to make sure
that they're shoring up the vote. And we've seen her out there on the stump. So does a Liz Cheney and a Dick
Cheney endorsement for Vice President Harris matter? I would argue probably not, because those Nikki Haley voters,
the fresher newer ones, are already going to probably be
with Trump. She's with them, too. What do you think? Well, the Dick Cheney endorsement
is actually the one that seems to be shocking and a reminder of how far we have
come from the Grand Old Party of even the Bush administration. And to have someone like Cheney and Kamala
Harris effectively on the same side as a better understanding of the risks to
American democracy and national security. I mean, we have Trump's own former
chief of staff, former defense secretary, former generals, all talking about
how he is a risk to national security. And now to have Dick Cheney come and remind us of that is,
I think, very compelling. And that's a key thing. You look like you want to say something. Look, I think that voters
are really concerned about the economy. I think endorsements are fine.
It's a good flavor of the day. We had RFK a couple of weeks ago. Nobody's talking about it anymore. The page is going to turn here
pretty quickly. And I don't think that I, Liz Cheney or Vice President
Cheney endorsement is going to change the trajectory
of this way. An endorsement maybe not necessarily,
But Alyssa, react to this because it's not just a pledge
to vote for Kamala Harris. Liz Cheney says she's going to hit
the campaign trail. Take a listen. I'm not a campaign surrogate. I'm not you know, officially I'm not,
you know, technically out there as a surrogate, but absolutely going to be in many key battleground states, very much focused on how important it is
that we defeat him in this cycle. So if she if she goes to, let's say,
Georgia, Arizona, and I don't know, Scranton, Pennsylvania,
you know, part of the the Reagan Democrat parts of Michigan,
I mean, she could create a permission structure
for Republicans to vote for. HARRIS, I guess. Well, and that's it's not just by the way,
Republicans vote for Harris. It's undecided swing voters, moderates,
independents, suburban women. Think of Georgia,
which Biden won by only 11,000 votes, having a former popular
lieutenant governor like Jeff Duncan, a lifelong Republican
who looks out of central casting, say it's okay
to be with a Democrat this time because democracy is on the line, support
our allies is on the line. Having a Liz Cheney, a name
that is associated with being a Republican much longer than Donald Trump's name
has been out in Pennsylvania saying, hey, this is about turning the page
on the past, on the chaos, on the drama that could absolutely work
in these tight margin state. And it specifically in Alaska
you were talking about this earlier is to the down
ballot tickets as well. It's not just a Harris play. This is about the different Senate
candidates and making sure that that margin doesn't
change or swing Democratic next cycle. I think we need to pay attention
to turnout to bring this full circle. President Trump had the incredible ability
to turn people out to vote in 2016, zero four voters, as we call them. They don't regularly participate. And what do they have to do?
They have to make up the margin here. So I think digging into
some of those rural counties where people that don't
typically participate, that's the challenge and that's what Trump
has to do to offset this. And let's talk about the debate
now, because, Alyssa, you spoke earlier with Democratic Governor Josh SHAPIRO on
The View, and he said this. Listen. As much as we want to criticize
Donald Trump, he's a liar. He's all these things.
I think you said it before. People know Donald Trump. He is a skilled debater. He is a guy who is willing to say
anything at any time just to get through a question.
And he's a showman. He's been on TV before. So don't underestimate Donald Trump. So Donald Trump has been doing
presidential debates since 2015. He did that, 2015, 2016, 2022, and now he's about to do his second one
this year against a second opponent. Folks shouldn't underestimate him. This is a man who came up in the world of television
mass communicating to audiences. There is a world
in which you get the Hannibal Lecter shouting out the proud Boys
off the rails, Donald Trump. But I think it's far more likely
you're going to get somebody who's trying to entertain, keep people's focus,
and is going to hit on the few issues that he really succeeds on. Border security and the economy. The worst thing the Harris campaign could
do is underestimate him going into it because he's proven he is capable
of getting through these debates. I would argue he actually did pretty successful
second debate against Joe Biden last time. If that Donald Trump shows up,
that's that's much tougher for Harris. Yeah. And she just experience
wise does not have the experience when it comes to doing these debates
that he does on air hockey. Ashleigh Stevenson, Elizabeth Griffin,
thanks one and all for being here.