"An act of patriotism': Liz Cheney's endorsement of VP Kamala Harris puts country over party

it is becoming the Noah's Arc of American politics a coalition whose passengers climb on board 2 by two includes Alexandria Casio Cortez and Bernie Sanders as well as Republican Adam kininger and as of last night the former number three house Republican with a last name practically synonymous with what the Conservative Republican party in its most strictly conservative it ation used to be all about all of them now in the same boat to save democracy from a disgrace convicted twice impeached four times indicted ex-president with a fondness for dictators abroad and a yearning to be one right here at home in America all this critical post Labor Day junct at this critical juncture in the 2024 campaign conservative stalwart January 6 committee Vice chair Liz Cheney announcing that she will vote for vice president KLA Harris for president here's that moment because we're here in North Carolina um I think it is it is crucially important for for people to recognize not only is what I've just said about the danger that Trump poses uh something that should prevent people from voting for him um but I don't believe that we have the Lux y of writing in candidates names particularly in swing States and as a conservative as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution uh I have thought deeply about this and because of the danger that that Donald Trump poses uh not only am I not voting for Donald Trump but I will be voting for KLA Harris in [Applause] this the Harris campaign responding to that moment that endorsement saying this quote the vice president is proud to have earned congresswoman Cheney's vote she's a patriot who loves this country and puts our democracy and our constitution first for any American who is looking to reject the chaos and division of Donald Trump to turn the page and pursue a new way forward that protects our freedoms and defends the American values we all believe in there's a place for you in the Harris walls Coalition and we will continue work to earn your support Liz Cheney adding her high-profile name to a growing list of current and former Republicans whose assessment of the stakes of this election have led to one inescapable conclusion their support for the Democratic Presidential nominee now for Cheney herself who supported Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020 her breaking point was of course the January 6 Insurrection here's what she said on the eve of Trump's trial in the US Senate what we already know does constitute the the gravest violation of his oath of office by any president in the history of the country uh and and this is not something that we can simply look past or pretend didn't happen or or try to move on and it was comments like that that cost her her political career and unlike just about all of her colleagues in the GOP who saw it the same way who we know now from great reporting and some hot mic moments clearly understood Donald Trump's culpability and role in inciting the deadly Insurrection they either didn't have the appetite to pay a political price or didn't have the courage to defy the ex- president but Liz Cheney helped Drive the Congressional investigation that uncovered so much of what we now know about the Trump coup plot and all of it again at the cost of her own role in house leadership and eventually her seat in Congress be there he instructed them we be wild as you will see this was a pivotal moment this tweet initiated a chain of events the Tweet led to the planning for what occurred on January 6th including by the proud boys who ultimately led the invasion of the capital and the violence on that day his response was to say they can March to the capital from from the ellipse something the effect of take the effing mags away they're not here to hurt me let them in Let My People in they can March the capital after the rally is over Donald Trump made a purposeful choice to violate his oath of office to ignore the ongoing violence against law enforcement to threaten our constitutional order there is no way to excuse that behavior now what's politically important is that Cheney becomes a really critical part of what's been coined by by pollsters and political analysts of a permission structure for other voters who might see themselves in part of Liz Cheney's story and then go on to pull the lever and vote for vice president KLA Harris in November here's a little bit more of what Cheney said last night at Duke University I I think that it is it is crucially important and and I would say especially to uh my fellow conservatives um that we we think about the stakes and that we we think about the extent to which um we have a duty a duty to put our country and our constitution above partisanship we all have that Duty and responsibility vote for kamla Harris as an act of Duty and patriotism that coming from Liz Cheney is where we start today with some of our favorite experts and Friends former Republican Congressman now an MSNBC political analyst David jol's here plus political strategist and MSNBC senior analyst Matt doubt is here we start though with former January 6 Select Committee Member democratic congresswoman zran of California um congresswoman your your thoughts to um this Chinese endorsement of Vice President KLA Harris yesterday well I'm proud of Liz you know um we worked very hard together on the January 6th committee she and I uh are not the same politically she's a Conservative Republican I'm not there are a lot of policy issues don't agree on but one thing we do agree on is the rule of law and protecting the Constitution and that's why we work so hard on the January 6 committee and I think her statement is going to be important for a lot of people uh she is uh so steeped in the Republican party I remember there were um meetings that we would have during the January 6 committee and what we were in a conference room and as we were sitting there I looked on the wall and I realized there was a picture of her father know and and the president on the wall well I mean that's her her Roots she is so Republican and that she would say the only way to honor our constitution is not just to not vote for Trump but to vote for the only real alternative kamla Harris is significant and I think it's Brave on the part of of Liz and once again something I deeply respect about her um I love everything that you're saying and it's important to point out that you know I I worked for her father and George W bush and I was a squish I was a squishy California Republican um Matt Dow can attest to that they were not and there were lots of instances where you know I was sort of viewed not distrustfully but skeptically um by by folks closer to to the chenes on the ideological Spectrum what what seems to have developed though and really been punctuated by by the vice president's convention especially that fourth night when she formally accepted the nomination is that a vote for Harris and all of these Republican endorsers are making an argument that it's the only patriotic thing to do that it is unpatriotic at this point to support Donald Trump what do you think about that coming from Liz who who has the goods and the receipts because of her role on the select committee well I think it's obviously true and Adam kininger actually spoke at the convention making the same now Trump knew he lost the election he's actually just recently admitted that on a podcast uh he summoned a mob uh to Washington he knew they were armed and he sent them to the capital to overturn the election I mean what could be more unpatriotic than that he wanted to overthrow uh the vote and upend our constitution there's no way to square that with uh the rule of law and patriotism it's as as Liz said in her statement uh this has never happened uh before in American history where we had a president who refused to honor his his oath in this way and so uh for those who are focusing on policy issues you know the policy issues can ultimately be solved but if we don't have a democracy there's no vehicle for solving them so that's really