Former US vice president Dick Cheney has excoriated Donald Trump in a new campaign video for his daughter Liz Cheney, calling the former president a "coward" and saying there has never been anyone who is a "greater threat to our republic".
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The video was released on Thursday by Liz Cheney's re-election campaign, two weeks before a Republican primary election in Wyoming that the three-term congresswoman is bracing to lose.
Echoing the criticism his daughter has made of Trump, Dick Cheney denounced him as a danger to the country through his relentless lies about the legitimacy of the 2020 election.
"In our nation's 246-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump," Cheney said.
"He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him.
"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."
A spokesman for Trump did not immediately return an email seeking comment on the video.
Trump has made defeating Liz Cheney a top goal since she joined nine other House Republicans in voting to impeach him for inciting the insurrection on January 6, 2021, at the US Capitol. She further infuriated him by becoming vice chair of the House committee investigating the riot.
Dick Cheney, who served eight years as President George W Bush's vice president, has made no secret of his disdain for Trump and the members of his own party who, particularly in the wake of the Capitol riot, shied away from efforts to remove Trump from office.
Liz Cheney has faced other fallout from her vote to impeach Trump and join the January 6 House committee. Several months after the impeachment vote, the House GOP dumped her from the No. 3 leadership post for her persistent repudiation of Trump's election claims.
Federal and state election officials and Trump's lawyer general have said there is no credible evidence the 2020 election was tainted.
In the new video, the former vice president lauds his daughter for "standing up for the truth, doing what's right, honouring her oath to the constitution, when so many in our party are too scared to do so".
"There is nothing more important she will ever do than lead the effort to make sure that Donald Trump is never again near the Oval Office, and she will succeed," Cheney said.
"I proudly voted for my daughter. I hope you will, too."
Australian Associated Press
