Bush called out on Trump-Harris: When democracy calls, ‘you can’t just roll it over to voicemail’

As many Republicans continue to buck their party’s nominee and nominate Vice President Harris for the White House, calls are mounting for former President George W. Bush to denounce former President Trump.

The Harris campaign has touted that more than 200 Republicans have endorsed the vice president, including former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and many former Trump insiders. It also includes former vice president to Bush, Dick Cheney.

Appellate attorney Chris Truax, who served as Southern California chair for John McCain’s 2008 primary campaign in 2008, called out Bush for staying out of the presidential race this year. He wrote in an opinion piece for The Hill that there was “a lot of speculation” that Bush would endorse Harris after Cheney did so earlier this month.

“That would have a real impact on the race. As a former Republican president, his endorsement would weigh heavily with old-school Reagan Republicans. And despite Trump’s takeover of the party apparatus, there are still a lot of these Republicans around. Nikki Haley got hundreds of thousands of votes in swing states like Pennsylvania, Arizona and Georgia even after she dropped out of the race. That’s more than enough to deliver those states to Harris and stop Trump from regaining the presidency,” Truax wrote.

He noted that Bush is “apparently above such petty concerns,” pointing to recent reports that said he is not endorsing anyone in the race for the White House. Multiple outlets reported that Bush’s office released a statement that said: “President Bush retired from presidential politics years ago.”

“But it doesn’t work that way. When your country calls, you can’t just roll it over to voicemail because you don’t want to deal with it, especially when you are an elder statesman like an ex-president. Patriotism is for life,” Truax wrote, noting that former President Jimmy Carter said he hopes he can live to cast his vote for Harris.

Former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who served in Bush’s administration, also said last week that he was all in for Harris.

Conservative Bill Kristol, who has been a frequent critic of Trump, also called on Bush to denounce the former president. He pointed to the Trump-Vance campaign for repeating a false claim that Haitian migrants are eating cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio. There has been no evidence put forward to back up that claim.

“By the way, shouldn’t Springfield, Ohio, be the final straw for George W. Bush, who refused to demonize immigrants? It’s time for the ex-president to denounce Trump and endorse Harris,” Kristol wrote.

Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) admitted Sunday that he made up the story about the migrants on CNN’s “State of the Union.” He is facing some calls to resign as his comments have sparked racist rhetoric against Haitians numerous residents in Ohio marches in the town by the white-nationalist Proud Boys, bomb and shooting threats and closed schools.

“If I have to create stories so that the American media actually has to pay attention to the suffering of American people, then that’s what I’m going to do,” Vance said on Sunday.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.