Bush and Cheney... Republican Elders Distancing Themselves from Trump

Bush Side "No Intention to Disclose Voting Candidates"

Former U.S. President George W. Bush, a Republican, announced that he will not officially endorse any candidate in the upcoming November presidential election. As prominent Republican figures turn to support Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris, former President Bush is also distancing himself from the Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump.

On the 8th (local time), according to U.S. political media outlet The Hill and others, Bush's camp stated the day before that they have no intention of publicly revealing which presidential candidate they will vote for. They cited Bush's retirement from presidential politics several years ago as the reason.

President Bush, who served from 2001 to 2009, is the son of George H. Bush, who was U.S. president from 1989 to 1993. In past elections, he supported the late Republican candidate John McCain in the 2008 presidential election and Republican candidate Mitt Romney in the 2012 election. While he has refrained from publicly criticizing former President Trump, he did not attend the Republican National Convention last month, which served as Trump's presidential campaign launch.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney, who served under the Bush administration, is not the only Republican distancing themselves from Trump. Cheney's daughter, former U.S. Representative Liz Cheney, stated on the 6th, "My father has publicly said that no one has been more threatening to American democracy than Donald Trump," and said that her father would vote for Vice President Harris. In an interview with ABC News that day, she declared, "If Ronald Reagan were alive, there is absolutely no chance he would support Trump," adding, "Trump supports none of what Reagan stood for."

Recently, Republican figures have been increasingly shifting their support from former President Trump to Democratic candidate Vice President Harris. On the 26th of last month, 238 aides who worked under George H. Bush, George W. Bush, former Senator John McCain, and Senator Mitt Romney released an open letter endorsing Vice President Harris. This was interpreted as senior Republicans, including former President Bush, effectively supporting Vice President Harris.