Following the revelation that former Republican vice president Dick Cheney had endorsed Democratic candidate Kamala Harris for the presidency, some were wondering if Cheney’s president, George W Bush, would follow suit.
Bush’s team released a statement outlining the 78-year-old’s position, and it may come as no surprise that he has not endorsed a candidate whose previous speech he once reportedly described as “some weird s***.”
Tenure
President Bush served as the US president for 2 terms between 2001 and 2009, famously leading the response to the 2001 New York terror attacks.
Cheney was his vice-president for both terms, and was allegedly the brains behind the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Eyebrow-Raising Endorsement
Bush and Cheney both represented the Republican Party throughout their terms, and in previous political roles.
So it may have come as a surprise to observers when it was revealed that Cheney, instead of endorsing the Republican candidate for the upcoming presidential elections, instead urged voters to choose Democrat Kamala Harris.
Reasoning
Liz Cheney, a former US representative and Dick Cheney’s daughter, revealed, on Friday, why he came to the decision.
She reminded the audience during an interview at The Texas Tribune Festival that her father had said publicly that “there has never been an individual in our country who is as grave a threat to our democracy as Donald Trump is.”
Crossing Party Lines
Although he may have publicly criticized Trump, commentators were still shocked by the revelation that he would go as far as to endorse Harris for the presidency.
Following the decision, attention was turned to his former boss, ex-President Bush, as the public were eager to know whether he would follow suit.
Still on the Fence
However, those looking for a strong opinion either way will have been left disappointed, as Bush’s team relayed that he would not be endorsing either candidate.
His office emphasized that he had “retired from presidential politics years ago,” and therefore would not be involving himself in either campaign.
Weird S***
However, it remains notable that he has not come out in favor of the Republican Party’s favored candidate.
Bush reportedly described Trump’s 2016 inauguration speech as “some weird s***,” which may be an indication of his feelings on the current candidate.
Republican Democrat Support
In a press release on Sunday, the Harris campaign pointed out that a lot of Republicans had switched allegiances for the current campaign.
The list included not only the Cheneys, but also former Georgia Lt Gov Geoff Duncan, Mike Pence’s advisor Olivia Troye, and Trump’s former press secretary, Stephanie Grisham.
Democrat Appeal to Conservatives
The Democratic presidential campaign has promised to try to attract more “conservative, independent, and moderate voters” that may have been turned off by other parties.
They say that these voters “have the choice to put their country and democracy first and leave Donald Trump’s toxic chaos and division behind.”
Dick Cheney Official Statement
Cheney also released a strongly worded statement on Friday criticizing Trump, telling voters that they have “a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our Constitution.”
“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.”
