Michigan Democrat says she’s ‘in vehement agreement’ with Cheney on democracy

Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) said Tuesday she is “in vehement agreement” with Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) on the issue of democracy, despite the two lawmakers’ differing views on policy.

“While we disagree — and I look forward to debating her in the future on issues of policy — on democracy, we are in vehement agreement,” Slotkin told “CNN This Morning.”

Cheney endorsed the Michigan Democrat on Thursday in her tight race against GOP state Sen. Tom Barrett, who has previously questioned the fairness of the 2020 presidential election. Cheney is set to join Slotkin on the campaign trail in Lansing, Mich., on Tuesday.

“The last time that [Cheney] was doing media in my media market, she was disagreeing with me vehemently on a point of policy, January of 2020,” Slotkin said Tuesday morning. “But we agree on one really big thing, and that’s that there has to be a democratic system in order for our system to function.”

Cheney’s endorsement of Slotkin represents the first time the longtime Republican has crossed the aisle to back a Democrat.

The vice chair of the House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, Cheney has increasingly split with her party over its unwavering loyalty to former President Trump and willingness to echo his unsubstantiated claims of election fraud.

After losing her own reelection bid to a Trump-backed Republican challenger, Cheney said in September that she would be willing to cross the aisle to campaign for Democrats. This month, the Wyoming Republican also said she would “absolutely” vote for the Democratic candidates for governor and secretary of state in Arizona in the face of election-denying candidates on the right.

Slotkin, who was first elected in 2018, is running in one of a handful of districts that were carried by both Trump and a Democratic House candidate in 2020.