Prez vs. prez over Cheney

Embattled Rep. Liz Cheney is betting on figures from the pre-Trump Republican establishment to help her win re-election, setting up a clash between two former GOP presidents.

Cheney (Wyo.), who was removed from her No. 3 leadership post in the House, by Republican leader Kevin McCarthy for voting to impeach then-President Donald Trump, has invited former 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.”

During a Sept. 11 speech, Bush appeared to address the Jan. 6 riots 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.”

Two days later, Trump said, “The World Trade Center came down during [Bush’s] watch ... He shouldn’t be lecturing anybody!”

Other guests at the Oct. 8 fundraiser for Cheney, whose father, Dick Cheney, served as Bush’s vice president, will be Bush political adviser Karl Rove and former Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who was Trump’s ambassador to NATO.

Former GOP House Speakers John Boehner and Paul Ryan have helped raise money for her.