It’s the showdown no one saw coming. Twenty years ago, Dick Cheney defined conservatism, yet he wound up railing against his own party’s leader. While many Republicans paid tribute to Cheney’s decades of public service (Wyoming’s John Barrasso calling him a “towering figure” and George W. Bush hailing him as “decent and honorable”), Donald Trump was silent.
While Trump embodies the Republican Party’s populist revolution, Cheney was the maker of the old guard who called out Trump’s leadership style. “In our nation’s 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump,” Cheney declared in an endorsement. And he also backed Democratic candidate Kamala Harris before the 2024 election.
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But then again, Dick Cheney wasn’t new to roasting Donald Trump. In 2022, he was in an ad for his daughter Liz’s doomed re-election campaign, where he called Trump “a coward.” Cheney’s line, “a real man wouldn’t lie to his supporters,” was aimed at MAGA nation and was also a wink to Liz’s work on the January 6 committee. In another lifetime, Dick Cheney’s brand of “cowboy diplomacy” used to be protested. But now, in an odd twist, liberals found themselves nodding along.
This is the only thing liberals are talking about regarding Dick Cheney right now. How he “stood up to Trump”
You do not hate liberals enough pic.twitter.com/bqUtEgGfjX
— Nick Cruse 🥋 (@SocialistMMA) November 4, 2025
This wasn’t a late-life mellowing, either. Dick Cheney’s disgust for Trump dates back at least to 2015, which was when he rejected the then-candidate’s call to ban Muslims in general. Cheney had said that it was an insult to American values.
Dick Cheney’s death reignited debates across the aisle. Some conservatives remembered his devotion to American “strength and founding values,” while critics (on both the left and the right) stuck to their narrative. Progressive troublemakers labeled him “one of the most evil people to exist in modern history.” Alex Jones declared, “He’s burning in hell”.
Dick Cheney’s firm opposition to Donald Trump and MAGA politics defined his later years, even though his past left bruises in Iraq, surveillance programs, and the GOP’s own culture. Many think that the fact that Mr. “Axis of Evil” himself became a champion for constitutional values speaks volumne about the changing basis for American political conservatism.
Dick Cheney’s life should not be celebrated.
4,419 United States Military members died for him under false pretenses.
210,000 innocent Iraqi civilians killed under his false pretenses. pic.twitter.com/lloAsAyYoO
— Trump Tracker (@trackingdonald) November 4, 2025
After Dick Cheney supported Harris, Donald Trump commented, “Dick Cheney is an irrelevant RINO, along with his daughter.” Despite Cheney’s fierceness, Trump’s insulting electoral strategy is still undefeated, at least on social media.
Dick Cheney may have caused as much outrage as awe, but his final message was a warning. With a shot pointed at the man who was acting like the bar’s owner, the cowboy walked out of the saloon. Whether you liked him or not, Cheney sure delivered the punchline.
NEXT UP: Former Vice President Dick Cheney, Vocal Anti-Trump Republican, Dies at 84
