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Liz Cheney Gets George W. Bush’s Help in Face of Trump Onslaught

Bush Sides With Cheney in Her Re-Election Bid Opposed by Trump

Former President George W. Bush is headlining a fundraiser for Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney as she lines up support in her effort to fight off attacks from former President Donald Trump in her bid for re-election.

Bush is attending an Oct. 18 event in Dallas for Cheney, who was ousted from her leadership position in Congress over her vote to impeach Trump. The event will also feature other prominent Republicans including Bush strategist Karl Rove and former Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, according to a person familiar with the event first reported by Politico and the Wall Street Journal.

Trump has endorsed Harriet Hageman as his preferred challenger to Cheney, one of his most vocal Republican critics. He has vowed to defeat her and other Republicans who voted to impeach or convict him for his role in the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol to stop the counting of Electoral College votes for Joe Biden. Cheney is also serving as vice chairwoman of a committee investigating the riot.

Liz Cheney Gets George W. Bush’s Help in Face of Trump Onslaught

The former president’s backing of Hageman could clear the field so Cheney can’t win with a mere plurality of the vote in a crowded field. Chuck Gray, a state representative, suspended his campaign on Sept. 14 after Trump’s endorsement of Hageman. 

But Wyoming state Senator Anthony Bouchard, who has reported raising almost $550,000 for the campaign so far, is not dropping out, a spokesperson said. 

Cheney has reported raising $3.4 million so far for the campaign with the help of donations from Republicans including Senator Mitt Romney’s Believe in America PAC and the leadership PACs led by former House Speaker Paul Ryan, Senators Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia. 

Bush has called for confronting violent extremists in the U.S., drawing a response from Trump saying his predecessor “led a failed and uninspiring presidency” and was responsible for getting the country into “quicksand” wars in the Middle East.

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