West Wing slugfest: Trump throws haymaker at Bush for hosting Liz Cheney fundraiser

Former President Donald Trump is speaking out against former President George W. Bush's decision to hold a campaign fundraiser for Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming.

Cheney, who is the daughter of Bush administration Vice President Dick Cheney, received a tidal wave of backlash following her vote to impeach Trump following the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol breach. Despite heavy blowback from her own party, Cheney continued to publicly flog the former president, leading to her ouster from her leadership position as House Republican Conference chair. 

Trump endorsed Cheney's primary opponent in the upcoming 2022 midterm election, Wyoming attorney Harriet Hageman. 

Bush is answering by hosting a fundraiser in Dallas next month. Cohosting the event will be longtime Bush political adviser Karl Rove, and former Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, who served as ambassador to NATO under Trump.

Trump issued a statement following the announcement of Bush's support for Cheney, calling the three-term congresswoman "bad for Wyoming."

"RINO former President George 'Dubya' Bush and his flunky Karl Rove are endorsing warmongering and very low polling, Liz Cheney," Trump said in a statement. 

"Bush is the one who got us into the quicksand of the Middle East and, after spending trillions of dollars and killing nearly a million people, the Middle East was left in worse shape after 21 years," he continued. 

Bush lacked the "courage to give a pardon to his Vice President's Chief of Staff, Scooter Libby, even though Cheney begged for him to do so," Trump chided. "I didn't know Scooter, but gave him a full pardon — not at their request, but because he deserved it. He suffered greatly. Former Vice President Cheney called to effusively thank me. Now he is on the side of his daughter who is so bad for Wyoming and the United States that she is polling at record lows."

According to the Associated Press, Cheney has outraised her opponent with a haul of $1.5 million in the first quarter of 2021.

The Bush fundraiser for Cheney is scheduled for Oct. 18, according to The Hill.