Former President George W. Bush‘s top priority in the 2022 midterm elections is helping to keep his former vice president’s daughter, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wy., in the House of Representatives, Fox News reported.
Bush has scheduled his first appearance for next year’s election at a fundraiser event for Cheney on Oct. 18 in Dallas, Texas.
The event lists him as a “special guest.”
By contrast, former President Donald Trump has made ousting Cheney, who he calls a “RINO” or “Republican in name only,” from the House one of his top electoral priorities.
Cheney became the face of the NeverTrump Republicans after voting to impeach Trump for the events of January 6th.
Trump called her a “disloyal Republican.”
Trump has endorsed Harriet Hageman, a lawyer and former candidate for Wyoming governor, in the race.
He said in the endorsement that “Harriet is all in for America First,” though many conservatives have noticed that Hageman briefly worked for Cheney’s short-lived 2014 campaign for the Wyoming Senate.
The split between Bush and Trump comes over a few fundamental issues: trade, immigration, the culture war, and especially foreign policy.
Trump has called Cheney a “warmonger” because of her staunch support for continuing the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney launched the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and have defended their decisions to do so.
Trump won a major battle against Cheney earlier this year when the House Republican Conference removed her from her position as chairwoman.
Former Republican House Speakers John Boehner and Paul Ryan are also campaigning for Cheney.
Despite Trump’s attacks—or perhaps because of them—Cheney raised $1.5 million in this year’s first quarter and $1.9 million in the second quarter.
