Former President George W. Bush has announced that he will not endorse any candidate in the upcoming 2024 presidential election.
Both Bush and his wife, Laura, confirmed their decision, stating a firm “No” when asked if they were endorsing any candidate. This marks the third consecutive presidential election in which Bush has abstained from supporting any contender.
A spokesperson for Bush explained, “President Bush retired from presidential politics years ago,” signalling his ongoing detachment from the political arena since leaving office.
In the 2016 election, Bush voted for Republican candidates down the ballot but left the presidential line blank, opting not to vote for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton.
In 2020, during Trump’s re-election campaign, Bush again chose not to support either Trump or President Joe Biden, instead writing in the name of Condoleezza Rice, his former Secretary of State.
Bush’s decision contrasts sharply with his earlier post-presidency endorsements. He supported Republican candidates John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012, though both ultimately lost to Obama.
Meanwhile, Bush’s former vice president, Dick Cheney, has taken a strikingly different approach by publicly endorsing Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris over Donald Trump.
Cheney’s daughter, former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), announced the endorsement during an event at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin, emphasising her father’s belief that Donald Trump represents an unprecedented threat to American democracy.
“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 stated.
This endorsement has sparked a strong reaction from Trump, who took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to denounce both Dick and Liz Cheney, labelling them as “RINOs” (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 wrote. He further declared, “I am the Peace President, and only I will stop World War III!”
Dick Cheney, who has been a vocal critic of Trump, reiterated his concerns about the former president’s threat to the republic, stating, “In our nation’s 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump.”
He accused Trump of attempting to overturn the 2020 election results through “lies and violence” and urged voters to prioritise the Constitution over partisanship.
“As citizens, we each have a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our Constitution,” Cheney said, concluding that this duty led him to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for the 2024 election.
Liz Cheney echoed her father’s sentiments, emphasising the dangers she believes Trump poses to the United States.
In a video posted on X, she expressed her resolve to vote against Trump and actively support Harris, citing the importance of protecting the Constitution during this critical time in the nation’s history.
