George W. Bush Rebukes Trump, Set to Headline Fundraiser For MAGA Foe Brian Kemp

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

Former President George W. Bush dipped his toe again into the 2022 midterm elections on Monday with the announcement that he will headline a fundraiser for Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA), a foe of Donald Trump, in Texas later this month.

Former President Trump endorsed Kemp’s Republican primary opponent former Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) and has made it clear he wants to see Kemp run out of the GOP after the governor refused to go along with Trump’s debunked allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

The Georgia Republican primary is May 24, and the latest poll out Tuesday shows Kemp with a 38-point lead on Perdue. A Kemp blowout over Perdue would be seen as a major defeat for Trump and a potential sign of weakness in his bid to retain control over the Republican Party.

Bush throwing his support behind Kemp is the latest sign that tensions between the Bush family and Donald Trump continue to be a defining dynamic in the GOP. Bush, a leader of the establishment wing of the GOP, previously hosted a fundraiser last year for Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) – Trump’s arch-enemy in the Republican Party.

Bush, who did not dabble in domestic politics for over a decade as an ex-president, also reportedly donated to both Cheney and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), the only of the seven Republican senators who voted to impeach Donald Trump up for reelection this cycle.

Politico reported that the “tickets for a V.I.P. reception are listed at $15,200, while the general reception is going for $5,000,” to attend the fundraiser for Kemp.

“The fundraiser with Bush this month will put Kemp in front of an influential room of Texas donors just days before the Georgia primary on May 24. Hosts of the May 16 event include Crow; Jim Francis, a major Texas bundler; Republican strategist Karl Rove; and Ross Perot, Jr., son of the former presidential candidate,” Politico added, noting the influence of Bush’s backing within the GOP.

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