Former President George W. Bush made an announcement about the 2024 presidential election in November, but took a less prominent stance than his vice president.
Bush, a Republican who served from 2001 to 2009, said in a statement Saturday that he has no plans to make a public statement of support or say how he or his wife, Laura, will vote.
“He retired from presidential politics many years ago,” said the spokesman, who did not want to be identified.
In 2012, Bush endorsed then-presidential candidate Mitt Romney. In 2008, Bush endorsed the now-deceased Sen. John McCain.
The announcement came a day after Bush’s vice president, Dick Cheney, announced he would cross party lines and vote for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris instead of former Republican President Donald Trump.
Former President George W. Bush is not endorsing any candidate for the 2024 election
Bush has decided not to endorse any of the candidates in the November presidential election.
Cheney, who served as Bush’s vice president during both of his terms, said Friday that “in the 248-year history of our nation, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump.”
He added: “As citizens, we all have a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our Constitution. That’s why I will be voting for Vice President Kamala Harris.”
Cheney has faced criticism over the years from human rights groups for his prominent role in planning the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which resulted in high civilian deaths and human rights abuses.
Her daughter Liz Cheney, a former U.S. representative, said Wednesday she would vote for Harris and called Trump a “danger.”
She had also been an outspoken critic of the current Republican presidential candidate, including during the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 by Trump supporters.
Harris said Saturday that the Cheneys’ support for her was “courageous” because they put country before political party.
“I’m honored to have your endorsement,” Harris said at Penzeys Spices in the Strip District, during a break from debate preparations, where she greeted customers and bought spices.
Former Rep. Liz Cheney endorsed Kamala Harris this week. On Friday, she said her father Dick Cheney would also vote for the vice president.
Both Cheneys are former House Republican leaders, with the elder serving two terms as George W. Bush’s Republican vice president from 2001 to 2009.
Harris was in Pittsburgh preparing for a Sept. 10 debate against Republican rival Donald Trump, with whom she is locked in a tight race for the Nov. 5 vote.
She said both Cheneys were making a bold statement that “it’s OK, though not important, to put country before party.”
“And for them to step forward and make this public statement, I think it’s brave, but also for the people that I just spoke to, it really reinforces to them that we love our country and we have more in common than what divides us,” Harris said.
Trump called Dick Cheney an “irrelevant RINO along with his daughter” in a social media post on Friday, using a term he applies to Republicans who are not loyal to him, meaning “Republicans in Name Only.”
Mike Pence, who served as Trump’s vice president for four years, has said he will not endorse his former boss, but he has not endorsed Harris either.
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