Ex-POTUS Smackdown: George W. Bush Pops Up to Campaign for Anti-Trump Candidate Joe O’Dea

L: Stacy Revere/Getty Images R: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Former President George W. Bush is taking time away from his retirement to campaign for Senate candidate Joe O’Dea of Colorado — who has bucked his party by saying he would not support former President Donald Trump as the next GOP nominee.

According to Bridget Bowman of NBC News, the last Republican president to win the popular vote at least once will come back out of retirement to campaign for O’Dea:

Former President George W. Bush is making a rare appearance on the campaign trail, participating in a fundraiser with Colorado Republican Senate nominee Joe O’Dea in about two weeks.

The event, shared first with NBC News, is another sign that Bush is aligning himself with candidates who have bucked former President Donald Trump. Earlier in this election cycle, Bush held fundraisers for Georgia GOP Gov. Brian Kemp and Wyoming GOP Gov. Liz Cheney ahead of their primaries against Trump-backed challengers.

As Bowman notes, O’Dea is perhaps best known for the heresy (among Republicans) of recognizing that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election, and for saying he does not support Trump running for president in 2024.

In August, O’Dea told a radio interviewer, “As far as Trump’s concerned, I hope he doesn’t run. I don’t want to see him as president.”

And just weeks ago, O’Dea boasted to Chuck Todd of Meet the Press that “I’m the only Senate candidate for the Republican Party that hasn’t been endorsed by Donald Trump. Probably not going to send me a Christmas card. I don’t want to see him run again.”

But he also spoke out against the current president, adding that “I don’t want to see Joe Biden run again. I think that tears our country apart, and I think I’m where most Americans are.”

O’Dea is one of the candidates Democrats have been accused of harming by spending money to highlight his opponent Ron Hanks, although the ad presented Hanks’ conservatism as a negative. Incumbent Democrat Sen. Michael Bennet is beating O’Dea by near-double-digits in the 538 polling average.