Embattled Rep. Liz Cheney is betting on figures from the fading Republican establishment to help her win re-election — setting up a clash between two GOP former presidents.
Cheney (R-Wyo.), who has been sidelined by House Republican leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy for voting to impeach President Donald Trump, has invited President George W. Bush to hold a fundraiser for her next month in Dallas, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Trump is backing her challenger Harriet Hageman in the 2022 Republican primary for Wyoming’s sole House seat.
In his endorsement of Hageman earlier this month, Trump referred to Cheney as a “warmonger and disloyal Republican.”
The fundraiser comes amid a squabble between the 43rd and 45th presidents.
During a Sept. 11 speech, Bush appeared to address the Jan. 6 rioters without mentioning Trump.
“There is little cultural overlap between violent extremists abroad and violent extremists at home,” Bush said. “But in their disdain for pluralism, in their disregard for human life, in their determination to defile national symbols, they are children of the same foul spirit. And it is our continuing duty to confront them.”
Two days later, Trump responded by saying Bush “shouldn’t be lecturing us about anything.”
“The World Trade Center came down during his watch. Bush led a failed and uninspiring presidency. He shouldn’t be lecturing anybody!,” Trump said in a statement.
The fundraiser for Cheney, whose father, Dick Cheney, served as vice president in the two-term Bush administration, will be held on Oct. 18 and guests will include Karl Rove, Bush’s longtime political adviser, and former Texas Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who was Trump’s ambassador to NATO.
Cheney has been ostracized by Trump and the Republican Party after she blamed the former president for instigating the Jan. 6 riot and insisted on making that a focus of her messaging.
Despite being removed from her No. 3 leadership position in the House by McCarthy, Cheney continues to be successful in her fundraising efforts.
She raised $1.5 million in the first three months of the year, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Former GOP House Speakers John Boehner and Paul Ryan have helped raise money for her, and Sens. Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham and Mitt Romney have donated to her from their political committees.
