Liz Cheney says she regrets years-long support for Donald Trump

On the heels of her high-profile endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris, former Rep. Liz Cheney , R-Wyo., said she regrets her previous support for GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.

In a Sunday interview on "Meet the Press," NBC host Kristen Welker asked Cheney if she regrets standing by Trump in the 2016 presidential election and several years afterwards while she served in Congress.

Welker pointed to a 2016 debate between Trump and then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in which Trump said "I'll tell you at the time. I'll keep you in suspense," when asked if he would commit to the principle of a peaceful transition of power.

"Congresswoman, do you regret standing by him at the time and for all of those years after?" Welker said.

"Yes, I do," Cheney responded.

"For, certainly, people after what he did on January 6, to act as though you can have confidence in him, you know that that that simply is just not credible," she continued. "The other thing I think people have to realize is what he did on January 6, you know, watching that brutal attack, that's depravity. And it's also just fundamentally cruel."

Cheney was ousted as chair of the House Republican Conference – the third highest-ranking House Republican – over her criticism of Trump following his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

She was one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump over the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and served as the vice chair of the House select committee investigating the attempted insurrection.

But Cheney's Sunday appearance is the latest stop for the former Wyoming representative as she steps up her efforts supporting Harris in the 2024 presidential race. Earlier this month Cheney campaigned alongside Harris at a Ripon, Wisconsin, rally where she asked voters of all stripes to support the Democratic presidential nominee.

Cheney has been one of the Republican Party's most vocal critics of Trump in recent years. The former lawmaker lost the 2022 Republican primary for her Wyoming congressional seat by more than 32 percentage points to a Trump-backed opponent, Harriet Hageman, who currently represents Wyoming in the House.

And Liz Cheney isn't the only member of family supporting Harris. Her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, also announced earlier this year that he'll be voting for the Democratic nominee in November.

Kathryn Palmer is an elections fellow for USA TODAY. Reach her at kapalmer@gannett.com and follow her on X @KathrynPlmr.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Liz Cheney says she regrets years-long support for Donald Trump