Former Representative Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican, mocked Donald Trump on Sunday after the former president lashed out at pop superstar Taylor Swift on social media for endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris in this year’s presidential election.
Trump, the GOP’s presidential nominee, took to his platform Truth Social on Sunday with an all-caps declaration and wrote: “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!”
On Tuesday, Trump faced off with Harris, the Democratic nominee, on the ABC News debate stage in Philadelphia for the first time as the two clashed over several important issues like abortion, the economy and immigration. Shortly after the debate, Swift, whose fanbase spans generations and crosses party lines, endorsed Harris on Instagram.
The singer, who did not directly attack Trump in her endorsement post, praised Harris as a “steady-handed, gifted leader,” adding, “I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos.”
In 2020, Swift endorsed President Joe Biden and Harris in the election that saw the duo victorious over Trump.
Cheney, a vocal Trump critic who recently endorsed Harris, responded on X, formerly Twitter, to the former president’s remark and wrote: “Says the smallest man who ever lived.” The former congresswoman’s post was in reference to Swift’s song “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” off her latest album The Tortured Poets Department.
Newsweek contacted Cheney’s press contact and Trump’s campaign via email on Sunday for comment.
Cheney’s comment follows a recent clash between Trump and the Cheney family. Last week, Trump posted on Truth Social, calling former Vice President Dick Cheney, Liz Cheney’s father, “an irrelevant RINO [Republican in Name Only]” after he also endorsed Harris for the 2024 election.
Trump also referenced Liz in the post, claiming she “lost by the largest margin in the History of Congressional Races!” This statement, however, was inaccurate. While her 2022 primary loss to Trump-backed candidate Harriet Hageman was significant, it was the second worst defeat for a House incumbent in 60 years, not the largest in history.
During a talk earlier this month at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy, Liz announced her intention to vote for Harris in the upcoming presidential election.
“As a conservative, as someone that believes in our constitution, I have thought deeply about this,” she told the students. “Because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I am voting for Kamala Harris.”
Her statement, which received a standing ovation, also urged voters in swing states like North Carolina not to write in candidates’ names. “Because we are here in North Carolina, I think it is crucially important for people to recognize—not only the danger that Trump poses, something I think that should prevent people from voting for him—but I don’t think we have the luxury of writing in candidates’ names, particularly in swing states,” Liz Cheney said.
Getty Images/Paras Griffin
Trump’s attack on Swift marks a shift from earlier attempts to court her fanbase. His campaign previously shared artificial intelligence-generated images depicting Swift and her fans as Trump supporters—images Swift cited as a reason for her public endorsement of Harris. The pop star also signed her endorsement as “Childless Cat Lady,” a pointed reference to resurfaced 2021 remarks about Democratic women made by Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance.
The impact of Swift’s endorsement was quickly felt, with Vote.gov reporting over 300,000 visitors within a day of her Instagram post. The latest ABC News/Ipsos poll published on Sunday, and survey conducted from September 11-13 found that just 6 percent of U.S. adults said the singer’s endorsement of Harris makes them more likely to vote for her. Meanwhile, 13 percent said it makes them less likely to support Harris, although this group of respondents were mostly Trump supporters. Additionally, 81 percent said Swift’s endorsement makes no difference to them.
The poll surveyed 3,276 adults including 29 percent who identified as Democrat, 29 percent who identified as Republican and 30 percent who identified as independent. The margin of error of this sample was 2 percentage points and was conducted between September 11-13.
Liz Cheney’s ongoing criticism of Trump has positioned her as a prominent voice among Republicans opposing the former president. Her role as vice chairman of the House select committee that investigated the U.S. Capitol riot that occurred on January 6, 2021, and her vote to impeach Trump resulted in significant backlash from fellow Republicans.
In her book, Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning, she provides an insider account of the January 6 insurrection and discusses potential residual threats to American democracy. She has also warned that Trump would attempt to stay in power beyond four years if elected to a second term.
Trump’s campaign has attempted to discredit Liz Cheney, sharing a television clip on X where she previously called Harris a “radical liberal.” In his book Save America, Trump included a photo of her smiling with him at the White House, accompanied by a note claiming she used to ask him for “baskets of goodies,” but that he “ultimately said ‘NO.'”
