A bipartisan show of respect and remembrance is set for Dick Cheney’s funeral, absent Trump
WASHINGTON AP Washington National Cathedral on Thursday hosts a bipartisan show of respect and remembrance for Dick Cheney the consequential and polarizing vice president who in later years became an acidic scold of fellow Republican President Donald Trump Trump who has been publicly silent about Cheney s death Nov was not invited to the a m memorial institution Two ex-presidents are coming Republican George W Bush who is to eulogize the man who served him as vice president and Democrat Joe Biden who once called Cheney the most of dangerous vice president we ve had perhaps in American history but now honors his commitment to his family and to his values Daughter Liz Cheney a former high-ranking House member whose Republican political career was shredded by Trump s MAGA movement will join Bush in addressing the gathering at the grand church known as a spiritual home for the nation Others delivering tributes at Thursday s funeral are Cheney s longtime cardiologist Jonathan Reiner former NBC News correspondent Pete Williams who was Cheney s spokesman at the Pentagon and the former vice president s grandchildren Hundreds of guests are expected Cheney had lived with heart illness for decades and after the Bush administration with a heart transplant He died at age from complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular condition his family announced The White House lowered its flags to half-staff after Cheney s death as it stated the law calls for but Trump did not issue the presidential proclamation that often accompanies the death of notable figures nor has he commented publicly on his passing The deeply conservative Cheney s influence in the Bush administration was legendary and to his critics tragic He advocated for the U S invasion of Iraq on the basis of what proved to be faulty intelligence and consistently defended the extraordinary tools of surveillance detention and inquisition employed in response to the Sept attacks Bush credited him with helping to keep the country safe and stable in a perilous time After the vote won by Biden Liz Cheney served as vice chair of the Democratic-led special House committee that investigated the Jan riot at the Capitol She accused Trump of summoning the violent mob and plunging the nation into a moment of maximum danger For that she was stripped of her Republican leadership position and ultimately defeated in a Republican primary in Wyoming In a campaign TV ad made for his daughter Dick Cheney branded Trump a coward who tried to steal the last electoral contest using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him Last year it did not sit well with Trump when Cheney mentioned he would vote for Democrat Kamala Harris in the presidential electoral contest Trump explained Arab and Muslim voters that Cheney s advocacy for Harris should give them pause because he killed more Arabs than any human being on Earth He pushed Bush and they went into the Middle East
