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Former President George W. Bush will not make a presidential endorsement in the 2024 White House race, according to his office.
The 43rd president will not join former Vice President Dick Cheney, who said last week he would vote for Democrat Kamala Harris rather than Republican Donald Trump.
Cheney’s daughter, leading Trump critic Liz Cheney, also called on her conservative colleagues to vote for Harris in November.
Harris and her running mate Tim Walz have been courting Republicans who refuse to vote for Trump. Harris said in a CNN interview that she would consider appointing a Republican to her Cabinet.
According to NBC News, Bush’s office said Saturday that neither he nor former first lady Laura Bush would endorse a candidate or publicly disclose their voting behavior.
“President Bush retired from presidential politics years ago,” his office said.
Bush attended Trump’s inauguration following his victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016 and reportedly called his speech “some weird crap.”
A spokesman said after the election that Bush and his wife had voted neither for Trump nor Clinton.
He also refused to endorse Joe Biden or Trump in 2020, telling People he was writing on behalf of Condoleeza Rice, who served as Bush’s secretary of state from 2005 to 2009.
Harris and Trump will have their first debate on Tuesday evening in Pittsburgh. The highly anticipated debate will be moderated by ABC.
