Ex-VP Cheney welcomed by Democrats
WASHINGTON — On a somber day of remembrance at the U.S. Capitol, it was the most unlikely of receiving lines: Democrats lining the floor of the House, waiting for their chance to greet Dick Cheney.
Yet there he stood, the former Republican vice president that Democrats have fiercely opposed and frequently reviled, sharing warm moments after the House held a moment of silence to commemorate the deadly violence of one year ago.
Cheney and his daughter, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. were the only two Republicans to attend a pro forma session of the House on the anniversary of last year’s riot at the Capitol. They sat together in the front row on the Republican side of the chamber as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi thanked the U.S. Capitol Police for defending them on Jan. 6 and allowing Congress to “defeat the insurrection.”
Republican leaders were absent. The former vice president, who served in leadership in the House as a congressman from Wyoming in the 1980s, took note.
“Well, it’s not a leadership that resembles any of the folks I knew when I was here for 10 years,” Cheney told reporters afterward.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., spoke with the Cheneys at length.
“I told him, thank you for being here, how proud I am of his daughter, and I know he is as well, for having the courage to stand up for truth,” Hoyer said.
After the House session, Dick Cheney released a statement on the Jan. 6 observance that said in part: “I am deeply disappointed at the failure of many members of my party to recognize the grave nature of the January 6 attacks and the ongoing threat to our nation.”