The flags at the White House are lowered to half-staff in honor of former Vice President Dick Cheney, who died on Tuesday. But President Donald Trump isn’t talking about his fellow Republican.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney may have been a legendary figure within the Republican Party, but for President Donald Trump, he was part of a long list of people he viewed as political opponents.
While White House flags were lowered to half-staff in remembrance of Cheney on Tuesday, there was no fanfare, and Trump made no comment about Cheney’s death on social media. His press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not mention his passing in a press briefing until she was asked by a reporter — and then made only perfunctory comments.
“I know the president is aware of the former vice president’s passing. And as you saw, flags have been lowered to half-staff in accordance with statutory law,” Leavitt said.
Trump was not so quiet about Cheney on the campaign trail last year, speaking regularly about him and his daughter, Liz Cheney, a former member of Congress who bucked most of her party to become a leading critic and examiner of Trump’s desperate attempts to retain power after he failed to win reelection in 2020. Dick Cheney backed his daughter, and in a twist the Democrats of his era could never have imagined, ultimately said he would vote for Trump’s Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris.
