George W. Bush thanks Dick Cheney, father of Liz Cheney, “ for the service of his daughter ”

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Bush chief of staff Freddy Ford told CNN on Friday that Bush planned to congratulate Liz Cheney on a Saturday call with his former vice president, his father, Dick Cheney.

“President Bush plans to call Vice President Cheney tomorrow for two reasons: to wish him a happy 80th birthday and to thank him for his daughter’s service,” Ford said Friday.

The show of encouragement comes as the young Cheney faced criticism within the party for joining nine other House Republicans and all House Democrats to vote to impeach Trump earlier this month for “incitement to the ‘insurrection’ in light of its role in spurring the January 6 riot. at the US Capitol. While House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, opposed the impeachment, House GOP leaders have not pressured their members to oppose it, and Cheney told the conference it was a “vote of conscience.”
CNN reported on Friday that Trump is focusing his political energy on targeting Cheney, a push that comes as McCarthy works to solidify his relationship with the former president, including meeting Trump at his resort town in Palm Beach, Mar- a-Lago, Thursday.

According to a source, Trump has repeatedly questioned his Republican allies about efforts to remove Cheney from his leadership position and put forward a leading candidate against her. He showed those allies a poll commissioned by his Save America PAC that claims to show Cheney’s impeachment vote hurt his position in Wyoming, even urging them to talk about the poll on television.

The risk of voting against the former president was not lost on the Republicans who did.

“I did it knowing full well that it could very well be terminal to my career,” Rep. Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican who also voted to impeach Trump, told CNN. “But I also knew I couldn’t live with myself trying to, you know, just protect him and I just felt the one time I was called to do a really hard duty, I didn’t. didn’t. “
Saturday’s scheduled call to senior Cheney isn’t the first time Bush has opposed Trump. Bush made fun of the rioters who stormed the Capitol, saying that “this is how election results are contested in a banana republic – not in our democratic republic.”

“I am appalled by the reckless behavior of some political leaders since the elections and by the lack of respect shown today for our institutions, our traditions and our police forces,” he added. “The violent assault on Capitol Hill – and the disruption of a constitutionally mandated congressional meeting – was undertaken by people whose passions were ignited by lies and false hopes.”

Bush praised President-elect Joe Biden in a phone call following the election and said that while Trump had the right to pursue court challenges and recounts, the 2020 race was “basically fair” and ” its result is clear “. He also attended Biden’s inauguration when Trump did not, skipping town early before the traditional meeting between outgoing and incoming leaders.

“Although we have political differences, I know Joe Biden is a good man, who has earned his chance to lead and unify our country,” Bush said in a subsequent statement. “The President-elect reiterated that if he runs as a Democrat he will rule for all Americans. I offered him the same thing I offered to Presidents Trump and Obama: my prayers for his success and my promise to help in any way possible. “

CNN’s Michael Warren, Paul LeBlanc, Eric Bradner, Annie Grayer, Daniella Diaz, Alex Rogers, Lucy Kafanov and Jason Kravarik contributed to this report.

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