Bush to hold fundraiser for Cheney

Former President George W. Bush is scheduled to hold a fundraiser for Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) next month as the third-term congresswoman fights to keep her seat amid a campaign to oust her by former President Trump and his allies.

The fundraiser — which will be Bush’s first campaign event for the 2022 midterm elections —  is slated to take place in Dallas on Oct. 18, a source confirmed to The Hill.

The event will be co-hosted by Karl Rove, a longtime Bush political adviser and someone who consulted with Trump during his 2020 reelection bid, in addition to former Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-Texas), who served as U.S. ambassador to NATO during the Trump administration, the source added.

Cheney’s father, Dick Cheney, served as vice president under Bush during both his terms in the White House.

The fundraiser, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, pits two former presidents against each other in what is already one of the most-watched campaigns of the 2022 cycle.

Trump earlier this month threw his support behind Cheney’s challenger, Wyoming attorney Harriet Hageman, solidifying his opposition to the representative who voted for his impeachment in January and rejected his claims that the election was stolen.

Cheney, who voted to impeach Trump for inciting the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol and sits on the panel investigating the insurrection, responded to the endorsement, writing on Twitter: “Bring it.”

Bush made headlines during his speech earlier this month commemorating the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, in which he warned of the threat posed by domestic extremist groups and argued that there are similarities between “violent extremists abroad” and those “at home.”

Trump later knocked Bush for his comments, writing that the 43rd president “shouldn’t be lecturing anybody.”

Tal Axelrod contributed to this report, which was updated at 9 a.m.