Tipsheet

It's No Surprise Who Cheney Is Now Calling on to Endorse Harris

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  November 02, 2024 11:30 AM

Former Rep. Liz Cheney is calling on former President George W. Bush to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris.

“I can’t explain why George W. Bush hasn’t spoken out but I think it’s time, and I wish that he would,” Cheney said on The New Yorker’s Radio Hour.

Pressure has been mounting on Bush to support the Democratic presidential nominee in recent weeks as several people close to the 43rd president have backed Harris. In addition to Cheney, her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, endorsed the Democrat.  

"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 wrote in a statement. “He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He can never be trusted with power again."

Bush’s daughter, Barbara Pierce Bush, has also canvassed for Harris in Pennsylvania. 

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“It was inspiring to join friends and meet voters with the Harris-Walz campaign in Pennsylvania this weekend,” she told People Magazine in a statement Tuesday. “I’m hopeful they’ll move our country forward and protect women’s rights.” 

More than 200 former Bush, McCain, and Romney staffers have also endorsed Harris. 

Despite the pressure, Bush’s office said the former president will not offer an endorsement in the 2024 race. 

"President Bush retired from presidential politics years ago," the office told NBC News.

The Harris-Walz campaign has been pressed to explain why it's touting support from the Cheneys. 

“The Cheney thing, do we really have to do that?” comedian Jon Stewart asked Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz. 

The Minnesota governor highlighted how the campaign has received support from a wide range of public figures.

“It goes broader than that. Look, Bernie Sanders, Dick Cheney, Taylor Swift,” Walz said before Stewart stopped him—“No, no, no, no, no, no—you can't ‘Dick Cheney or Taylor Swift.’ No! What country did Taylor Swift get us to invade? No!”