Trump and Vance not invited to Dick Cheney’s funeral today while Biden, Bush, Harris and Pence attending
The funeral for former Vice President Dick Cheney is being held in Washington, D.C., with former presidents and vice presidents attending – but not President Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
While sitting presidents typically attend the funerals of former presidents and vice presidents, Trump and Vance were not invited to attend the memorial service, a source told CNN.
Cheney, who served under former President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2009, is largely credited with becoming one of the most influential – and controversial – vice presidents in modern American history.
He will receive full military honors at the memorial service. More than 1,000 guests were expected at the invitation-only funeral held at Washington National Cathedral, including all four living former vice presidents and two former presidents.
Former presidents George W. Bush and Joe Biden are attending, along with former vice presidents Kamala Harris, Mike Pence, Al Gore and Dan Quayle.
Also expected to attend were several Supreme Court justices, past and present, cabinet members from both Republican and Democratic administrations and congressional leaders from both major parties.
Former President Bush, Cheney’s daughter, former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney and some of his grandchildren are expected to speak during the service.
Cheney, whose political career spanned five decades, died earlier this month from complications related to pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, which he battled most of his adult life. He was 84.
In addition to serving as Bush’s vice president, Cheney was also the defense secretary for President George H.W. Bush and chief of staff for President Gerald Ford. He also served 10 years as Wyoming’s sole representative to the House, a job his daughter, Liz, later took on.
While Cheney was a longtime conservative who endorsed Trump’s 2016 campaign, he spent the final years of his life speaking out against the current administration.
Cheney and his daughter, Liz, became regular targets of Trump during his most recent re-election campaign due to their fierce criticism of the then-former-president. His daughter had long been a target of Trump’s after holding a prominent role in the congressional committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Despite rarely appearing in public during his later years, Cheney appeared in a political advertisement for his daughter in 2022 to denounce Trump.
“In our nation’s 246-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump,” Cheney said, calling the now-president a “coward.”
“A real man wouldn’t lie to his supporters. He lost his election, and he lost big. I know it. He knows it, and deep down, I think most Republicans know,” Cheney said in the advertisement.
