At a rally Tuesday night in East Lansing Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming urged a standing-room only crowd to think beyond partisan politics as she campaigned for Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Lansing), who Cheney endorsed last week.
“If we want to ensure the survival of our republic, we have to walk away from politics as usual,” said Cheney, who received a standing ovation. “We have to stand up, every one of us, and say we’re going to do what’s right for this country. We’re going to look beyond partisan politics.”
Slotkin is being challenged by Republican state Sen. Tom Barrett for the newly-drawn 7th Congressional District, which is centered around Lansing and includes all of Livingston County.
Slotkin, who admitted that she and Cheney differ on most policy issues, said they were in firm agreement on what mattered most.
“But there is one really, really big thing we agree on and that is preserving the American democracy,” Slotkin said.
Cheney and Slotkin both serve on the House Armed Services Committee, and have been vocal critics of House Republicans who have sought to downplay the siege of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Cheney lost in a primary battle to Trump-supported Harriett Hageman, who has endorsed Barrett along with former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a one-time Democrat who has since quit the party.
“As a nation today, we are facing an ongoing assault by the former president and by people that are spreading his lie,” Cheney said Tuesday.
At an event Tuesday morning in Howell, Barrett criticized Cheney for having the “audacity” to endorse his opponent in a critical race that will “decide which party controls Congress.”
“Elissa Slotkin and Liz Cheney prove that the political establishment has an unquenchable thirst for military engagement abroad,” said Barrett
After the event, Slotkin tweeted a message that said, “Our country is going through something right now, but we can get through it as long as we have two things: engaged citizens and principled leaders.”
