President Trump will not attend a memorial service for former Vice President Dick Cheney on Thursday. In fact, he wasn’t even invited.
The former vice president, who helped expand the powers of the presidency and shape the nation’s war on terrorism after Sept. 11, 2001, died earlier this month at age 84.
But in 2024, the once-powerful Republican turned on his party’s nominee, Donald J. Trump, by announcing he would vote for the Democrat’s nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris.
“We have a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our Constitution,” Mr. Cheney said.
His decision to join his daughter, the former Representative Liz Cheney, in speaking out against President Trump left him isolated from his own party and re-examined by some of his most vocal critics.
A person close to the Cheney family had initially said that Vice President JD Vance was invited, but aides to the vice president said on Thursday morning that he was not and would not be there. Mr. Trump ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff after Mr. Cheney’s death, as required by law, but issued no statement and has refrained from commenting publicly.
Other Trump administration officials were not expected to attend and incumbent Republican members of Congress who still want a political future may stay away as well, out of fear of angering Mr. Trump, who considers Ms. Cheney one of his chief nemeses.
But it was not clear whether many incumbent Democratic lawmakers who still want a political future will come either, given the still-strong feelings on the political left about Mr. Cheney’s policies on Iraq, interrogation and surveillance.
Peter Baker is the chief White House correspondent for The Times. He is covering his sixth presidency and sometimes writes analytical pieces that place presidents and their administrations in a larger context and historical framework.
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