President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance were notably absent from former Vice President Dick Cheney’s funeral at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, on Thursday.
Cheney, a vocal critic of Trump, passed away on November 3 at the age of 84.
While former presidents and senior political figures, including George W. Bush (who delivered the eulogy), Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Mike Pence, Al Gore, Dan Quayle, Nancy Pelosi, and Chief Justice John Roberts, filled the front rows, Trump and Vance were nowhere to be seen.
Were Trump And Vance Not Invited To Dick Cheney’s Funeral?
According to a White House official, the reason was simple: neither Trump nor Vance was invited to the service, Reuters reported. The two leaders, therefore, did not attend. Trump also did not issue public condolences to Cheney’s family, though the White House said it was “aware” of his passing. Flags had been flown at half-staff in acknowledgment of Cheney’s death.
“My condolences go to Dick Cheney and his family,” Vance said at a Breitbart News event on Thursday. “Obviously, there’s some political disagreements there.”
About Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney was a powerful figure within the Republican Party for much of his political career. He was a former congressman from Wyoming, Secretary of Defense to President George HW Bush, and a key figure behind the US invasion of Iraq as Vice President in 2003.
Cheney became a fervent critic of Trump, criticizing him for falsely claiming victory in the 2020 Presidential elections and the subsequent January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by his supporters. He endorsed Trump’s opponent, Democrat Kamala Harris, in the 2024 election. “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 said.