Former Vice President Dick Cheney.

By Joe Lombardi From Daily Voice

The absence of President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance at Dick Cheney’s funeral sent a clear signal, and it was no accident.

Invitations to the memorial at Washington National Cathedral Thursday, Nov. 20, drew a crowd heavy with political heavyweights from both parties who have long defined the old guard in Washington. 

Former Presidents George W. Bush and Joe Biden, along with ex-Vice Presidents Kamala Harris, Mike Pence, Al Gore, and Dan Quayle, attended. Trump and Vance, the sitting president and vice president, were not invited.

Early reports suggested Vance might have received an invitation, but his aides said that was not the case. The result: Every living former vice president was present, except the current one, spotlighting a deliberate divide between the Cheney family and the Trump-led Republican Party.

The snub comes after years of fierce opposition from both Dick Cheney and his daughter, Liz Cheney, to Trump and his brand of politics. 

Dick Cheney once called Trump the “greatest threat to the republic in our nation’s history” and a “coward,” a stance he never softened. 

Liz Cheney lost her House leadership post and her Wyoming seat after voting to impeach Trump and joining the January 6 committee.

Thursday’s service was more than a farewell — it was a gathering of the GOP’s traditional wing and bipartisan figures, with the guest list reflecting a pointed break from the Trump era. The scene made clear Cheney’s allegiance to institutional Washington over the current White House.

Bush delivered a eulogy. Other notable attendees included Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. John Thune. Trump did not issue a substantive public statement about Cheney’s death. He did order flags at half-staff, as required by protocol.

Cheney died Tuesday, Nov. 4, at 84, from complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, surrounded by his family. The former vice president redefined the office under George W. Bush, driving the post-September 11 response, and earlier served as defense secretary, White House chief of staff, and Wyoming congressman.

His family said: “Dick Cheney was a great and good man who taught his children and grandchildren to love our country, and to live lives of courage, honor, love, kindness, and fly fishing.”