Former President George W. Bush does not plan to formally endorse a candidate in the 2024 presidential election, his office told multiple outlets on Saturday.
Neither Bush nor his wife Laura Bush plans to publicly share who they will vote for, according to NBC News, with his office adding that “President Bush retired from presidential politics years ago.”
Bush’s decision not to endorse a candidate in this White House election comes just a day after his then-vice president, Dick Cheney, confirmed he would be voting for Vice President Harris. His daughter, former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), shared her father’s decision hours earlier at the Texas Tribune Festival on Friday.
Harris welcomed Cheney’s support, telling reporters on Saturday she was “honored.”
“And them stepping up to make this public statement, I think is courageous, but also for the folks I was just talking with, it really reinforces for them that we love our country and we have more in common than what separates us,” she said.
Former President Trump fired back at Dick Cheney, calling him an “irrelevant RINO” — or “Republican 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!” the ex-president said on TruthSocial late Friday.
Liz Cheney, a fierce Trump critic, announced earlier this week that she would also be voting for Harris, arguing that “as a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this, and because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump but I will be voting for Kamala Harris.”
In 2012, Bush backed then-presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Bush endorsed now-late Sen. John McCain in 2008.
The Hill has reached out to Bush’s office for comment.