Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) spoke about the presidential election and the protection of American democracy at the Jack Morton Auditorium on Wednesday. 

Cheney, a Republican and previous supporter of former President Donald Trump who after the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, became vehemently opposed to the former president, said she believes Vice President Kamala Harris will win Tuesday’s election and that it is important to ensure “serious people” are serving in elected office. The event featured a conversation between Cheney and Maribel Pérez Wadsworth, the CEO of the Knight Foundation — which aims to support journalism education — and was hosted by the Columbian College of Arts & Sciences’ Institute for Data, Democracy and Politics. 

Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, represented Wyoming’s at-large congressional district from 2017 until 2023. During her time in the House, she served on the House Rules, Natural Resources and Armed Services committees and was elected chair of the House Republican Conference in 2021.

After the 2021 Capitol insurrection, Cheney announced she would vote to impeach Trump because the former president “summoned” the mob that attacked the capitol and did nothing to stop them, which caused her to be censured by the Wyoming Republican Party and removed from her leadership position in the House. In the following months Cheney served as the vice chair of the House Select Committee on January Sixth, which garnered her a censure by the Republican National Committee.

After losing her congressional seat in 2022, Cheney continued her opposition to Trump and endorsed Harris for president. Even though she has said she disagrees with Harris on many issues, she pointed toward Trump’s actions — and lack of action — on Jan. 6 as the reason why she no longer trusts him with the power of the presidency. 

University President Ellen Granberg gave introductory remarks and said GW has played a role in the country’s “civic life” by educating future generations on the values of democracy. 

“In 1821, we were founded with a clear purpose to educate the citizens of a young republic at the seat of their government, ensuring that the ideals and practices foundational to American democracy would persevere for generations,” Granberg said. 

She said members of the GW community often hold great responsibility within the government, giving the University a unique position to educate students. 

“Our university students come to GW not just to study democracy and politics, but to participate in them firsthand,” Granberg said. 

Cheney took the stage and spoke about the importance of fighting disinformation and said Trump, as a major spreader of disinformation, is already laying the groundwork to claim the upcoming election was stolen from him if he loses.

“Donald Trump is already out there saying there’s been fraud. There’s been massive fraud,” Cheney said. “Law enforcement needs to get involved, stoking fear, spreading lies, preparing the ground. And I think we all need to be ready for the fact that on election night, he’s likely going to declare victory, even though he will not be the victor.” 

Cheney said Trump has spoken about election interference and unfair elections since his first presidential bid in 2016, which he won but still claimed fraud. She said this time around, both the people protecting the democratic process and those threatening democracy are better equipped as they have learned from their attempt to overturn the 2020 election. 

“We’re also in a different situation, because at the local level, people are prepared in ways that they weren’t in 2020,” Cheney said. “But at the same time, the people that want to tear down our democracy have had practice.” 

Cheney, who has been working to gather Republican support for Harris by attending events with the vice president and speaking directly to Republicans, said there are voters who disagree with her on many policies but take issue with the things Trump has done. 

“There are millions of voters who may have been long time Republicans, they may be from very conservative areas,” Cheney said. “They are voters who would say they don’t agree with Vice President Harris on policy X or policy Y, but they also understand who Donald Trump is and what he did.”

Cheney said the core question for this election is whether or not Americans will give the power of the presidency to someone who she described as “depraved” and “cruel.” She said the threat Trump poses to democracy means the election is not a debate over policy, but a debate on whether Americans want to continue to be able to debate over policy in the future. 

“I know there are many more people than in previous elections who will be crossing party lines because there’s so much at stake in this one,” Cheney said. 

Cheney said when it comes to elected office, Americans have to elect “serious people.” 

“You have to elect serious people to office, and you have to elect people you know you can rely on and that you know you can count on to do what they think is right,” Cheney said. 

Speaking about abortion rights, Cheney said she was pro-life but that she believes the abortion policies that have been implemented in many states since the overturning of Roe v. Wade is “unacceptable” because of the way they treat vulnerable women. 

“I think you’re seeing a bipartisan coalition of women coming together around this issue,” Cheney said. 

She said abortion rights is a “big” issue she has seen as she has spoken to voters this election season because it affects everybody, and that people’s stance on the issue is not decided by whether they are pro-choice or pro-life, considering how wide a variety of people are affected. 

Harris has said she will name a Republican to her cabinet if she wins the election. Cheney said she doesn’t think it is “appropriate” to speak about the possibility of her serving in the cabinet, but there are many good candidates available for Harris’ cabinet. 

“There are tremendous people who she will have to choose from, tremendous people on all sides of the political spectrum,” Cheney said, “And I just think we have to make sure we win next week and then go from there.”

Cheney said she is hopeful for the future of the country because of the commitment she has seen from Americans who are dedicated to the idea that America is inherently a “good” nation. She said she is specifically inspired by young people who don’t want to live in a country where “violence” determines who holds power.

“I feel very hopeful that all of us, those people, are motivated and organized and will get out and do the right thing and then commit ourselves to working together so this never happens again,” Cheney said.