George P. Bush applauds Liz Cheney's ouster, claims she doesn't 'stand up for conservative Republican ideology'

(Image credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

published 13 May 2021

George P. Bush, the Texas land commissioner and son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), applauded House Republicans on Wednesday for ousting Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) from her position as the No. 3 House GOP leader. Bush tweeted that "we need leaders in Congress that stand up for conservative Republican ideology, and Liz Cheney is not that leader," over a quote in which he says Cheney should be "reigning [sic] fire" down on Biden, not "the president," presumably referring to former President Donald Trump.

Bush, 45, has broken with the rest of his family by supporting Trump, but the Bushes also have a long, amicable history with the Cheney family, which "has deep ties to Texas," The Texas Tribune notes. "Former Vice President Dick Cheney, Liz Cheney's father, lived in Dallas between his tenure as President George H.W. Bush's secretary of defense and as President George W. Bush's vice president. In that time, he was the CEO of Halliburton, an oilfield services company."

House Republicans demoted Cheney in a voice vote, so there's no record of how Texas Republicans voted, but several GOP House members from the state tweeted that they were proud to kick her out of leadership. "Prior to the insurrection, Cheney was considered one of the fastest rising GOP stars and among the toughest of hard-line conservatives — particularly on foreign policy," the Tribune reports. "She spent much of her career working in the State Department and as a Fox News contributor," before easily winning her House seat in 2016. Cheney now says she's playing a long game to wrest her party from the grasp of Trump's "destructive lies."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

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