Former President George W. Bush will not endorse any candidate ahead of the 2024 presidential election while his former vice president Dick Cheney publicly threw his support behind Kamala Harris.
“No,” Bush and his wife Laura answered when asked if they were endorsing anyone for the White House race on Nov. 5, according to NBC News.
“President Bush retired from presidential politics years ago.”
The former Republican president’s refusal to endorse anyone in the upcoming election follows a similar trend he used in the previous two races.
In the 2016 election, Bush voted straight Republican on the ticket but left the presidential line empty — opting not to vote for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton.
During Trump’s first reelection bid in 2020, Bush didn’t cast a vote for either Trump or President Joe Biden.
He wrote in Condoleezza Rice’s name, his former secretary of state who served in his administration from 2005 to 2009.
Bush shared the shocking revelation during an interview with People in 2021, saying he told Rice of his endorsement.
“She knows it,” Bush told the outlet. “But she told me she would refuse to accept the office.”
In the first two elections after leaving the White House, Bush endorsed both Republican candidates, John McCain and Mitt Romney in 2008 and 2012 respectively, both whom lost to Barack Obama.
Bush’s silent presidential preferences comes after his former running mate and vice president, Dick Cheney endorsed the Democratic nominee instead of Trump.
“Dick Cheney will be voting for Kamala Harris,” the 46th veep’s daughter, former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wy.) said during an event at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin.
“If you think about the moment we’re in, and you think about how serious this moment is, my dad believes — and he said publicly — there has never been an individual in our country who is as grave a threat to our democracy as Donald Trump is,” Liz Cheney added.
Cheney’s endorsement didn’t sit well with Trump, who trashed the father-daughter duo, calling them RINO’s (Republicans in name only.)
“Dick Cheney is an irrelevant RINO, along with his daughter, who lost by the largest margin in the History of Congressional Races!” Trump raged on Truth Social Friday night.
“They couldn’t get [former Dick Cheney aide] Scooter Libby, who did so much for them (but was so unfairly treated!), PARDONED. I did it!” he added.
“I am the Peace President, and only I will stop World War III!” Trump insisted.
Dick Cheney, who has been a vocal critic of the 45th president, said Trump “can never be trusted with power again.”
“In our nation’s 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump,” read the former vice president’s statement. “He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He can never be trusted with power again.”
“As citizens, we each have a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our Constitution,” he added. “That is why I will be casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.”
Liz Cheney threw support behind Harris as she spoke about the “danger” Trump poses to the US.
“I don’t believe that we have the luxury of writing in candidates’ names, particularly in swing states,” the former congresswoman said in a video posted to X. “As a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this. Because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris.”
