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George W. Bush to fundraise for Liz Cheney as Trump and GOP rivals target her seat

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Combination with Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) (L), Former President George W. Bush.

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Former President George W. Bush will appear as a special guest at an upcoming fundraiser for Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, whose unwavering criticism of Donald Trump has sparked a vicious backlash within her own party.

The fundraiser for Cheney, the daughter of Bush’s vice president, Dick Cheney, will take place in Dallas on Oct. 18, multiple outlets reported. Reports said that former Bush advisers Karl Rove (left) and Karen Hughes (right), as well as Kay Bailey Hutchison who was a former senator from Texas and U.S. ambassador for NATO, were among the other participants.

Freddy Ford, Bush’s spokesman, told CNBC that Bush “is impressed by Liz Cheney’s strength and vision” and was proud to stand behind her.

Ford stated that Bush has “historically supported a few key candidates each cycle, so this one shouldn’t be any surprise.” But Bush has largely stayed mum on electoral politics since leaving the White House in 2009 with overwhelmingly negative approval ratings.

Under the Trump administration, however, some polls showed Bush becoming significantly more popular.

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Bush and his wife, Laura Bush, said they did not vote for either Trump or Hillary Clinton in 2016. In 2020, Bush said he wrote in the name of Condoleezza Rice, his former secretary of state.

He spoke out following the January 6th invasion at the U.S. Capitol and stated that it made him sick. Without mentioning Trump by name, Bush lamented that the Republican Party has grown “isolationist, protectionist and, to a certain extent, nativist.”

On the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Bush said that the violent extremists in the U.S. and those abroad are “children of the same foul spirit.”

Cheney, who represents conservative-leaning Wyoming, was one of 10 House Republicans to vote to impeach Trump for inciting the Capitol riot. That handful of Republicans has since come under fire — not just from Trump’s loyalists in Congress, but also from Trump himself.

One of those 10, Rep. Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, said last week that he will not seek reelection, calling Trump “a cancer for the country.”

Trump replied, “1 down 9 to go!”

Some Trump-allied Republicans in her chamber have openly called for Cheney’s removal from Congress. Trump officially supported Harriet Hageman in her endorsement earlier this month. Hageman was a principal opponent to Cheney. His statement endorsing Hageman called Cheney a “disloyal Republican,” a “RINO” — a derisive acronym deployed against Republicans accused of behaving like Democrats — and “the Democrats[‘] number one provider of sound bites.”

But Cheney remains defiant.

“Here’s a sound bite for you: Bring it,” she shot back at Trump.

Cheney was removed from her post as No. The No. 3-ranking House Republican was removed from her role as the No.

Trump and his associates filed numerous lawsuits to overturn the results of states’ elections after losing to President Joe Biden. Trump made false claims about election-rigging to supporters at a rally held outside the White House, Jan. 6. He then directed them towards the Capitol in an attempt to force Republicans to reject Biden’s win.

Trump was impeached by the House but was cleared in the Senate where he needed 60 votes to be convicted.

Despite the pressure from her colleagues, Cheney also continues to actively engage with the Democratic-majority House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, D-Calif., assembled the panel after Senate Republicans defeated a proposal for forming a similarly bipartisan “9/11”-style commission.

The panel currently includes seven Democratic members and Cheney is one among two Republicans. Cheney was appointed vice chair by chairman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi earlier in the month. Trump has been vocally criticised by Rep. Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican.

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