Trump and Vance not invited to Dick Cheney’s funeral, but all four living former vice presidents attending
Past presidents and politicians from both parties will meet in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. Funeral of Vice President Dick Cheney – Says goodbye to an important figure of pre-MAGA Republican politics.
However, neither President Donald Trump nor Vice President J.D. Vance was invited to Cheney’s funeral, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Cheney will be honored with full military honors at the memorial service, which is expected to be attended by a bipartisan Washington dignitary.
More than 1,000 guests are expected at the invitation-only funeral Thursday morning at the Washington National Cathedral, including all four living former vice presidents and two former presidents.
Former presidents George W. Bush and Joe Biden will also pay tribute, as will former vice presidents Kamala Harris, Mike Pence, Al Gore and Dan Quayle. A number of Supreme Court Justices are also expected to be present, including Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Elena Kagan. Scores of past and present Cabinet members from both Republican and Democratic administrations will attend, as well as congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle.
Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi is expected to attend, along with Senate Majority Leader John Thune and former leader Mitch McConnell.
CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
The funeral’s guest list is a nod to a time when Washington wasn’t so polarized and politicians on both sides of the aisle paid their respects when a dignitary died.
Cheney’s funeral will be held at 11 a.m. ET. Speakers will include Bush, Cheney’s daughter, former Rep. Liz Cheney, and some of her grandchildren.
Cheney, who served as Bush’s vice president from 2001 to 2009, died on November 3 at the age of 84. Before being elected vice president, Cheney served as secretary of defense, White House chief of staff, and congressman representing Wyoming.
He was considered one of the most powerful and influential vice presidents in history, but he was the architect of the Iraq War, causing him to leave office. extremely unpopular and cemented a polarizing legacy.
While official funerals in Washington often include invitations to the White House, Trump’s exclusion should come as no surprise.
Cheney was a lifelong staunch conservative who supported Trump’s 2016 campaign. But he spent the last years of his life speaking out against Trump, especially after his daughter. Liz Cheney has drawn the president’s ire for her prominent role on the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 incident. riot at the Capitol.
Cheney in 2022 He described Trump as a coward and said no one is “a greater threat to our republic.”
Trump has not publicly expressed his condolences or commented on Cheney’s death.
The White House reacted mutedly after Cheney’s death, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt telling reporters that Trump was “aware” that the former vice president had died and stating that flags were lowered to half-staff.
Honorary pallbearers at Cheney’s funeral will include members of the Secret Service team; former chiefs of staff David Addington and Scooter Libby; and photographer David Hume Kennerly.
One of the last pages of the service brochure features the words of author and naturalist John Muir: “The mountains are calling and I must go.”
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