In an effort to weaken former President Donald Trump's support, Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign has been touting the endorsements she has received from dozens of formerly prominent Republicans, with an obvious goal of winning over former President George W. Bush.

Bush has refused to endorse either candidate, much to the dismay of many Democrats, but that non-endorsement decision was just defended by his opposite party predecessor, former President Bill Clinton, according to The Independent.

However, in defending Bush's choice to remain silent in the 2024 election, Clinton strongly implied in a recent interview that the former GOP president is not backing the current leader of his party and is instead quietly supporting Harris and some Democratic Senate candidates.

Bush not endorsing Trump or Harris

In September, NBC News reported that former President Bush's office said that neither he nor former first lady Laura Bush would endorse a presidential candidate or publicly reveal who they would ultimately vote for in the 2024 election.

The former GOP president's office added that Bush "retired from presidential politics years ago," and the outlet noted that Bush didn't endorse or publicly support former President Trump in his 2016 or 2020 runs, though he had previously done so for previous Republican nominees like the late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and former Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) in 2008 and 2012, respectively.

Bush's non-endorsement decision came just days after his former vice president, Dick Cheney, and his daughter, former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), both of whom are outspoken Trump critics, issued public endorsements of Democratic VP Harris for the presidency.

It also occurred, as CBS News reported, while the Harris campaign has touted endorsements of her candidacy from hundreds of former elected Republicans and officials from prior Republican administrations that stretch from Trump back to Ronald Reagan.

Still, the undeniable cherry on top of those GOP endorsements for Harris would have been Bush, and some of the Republican supporters of the Democratic nominee have been openly calling for Bush to reverse his decision to sit out the election and come off the sidelines with an endorsement of Trump's opponent.

Clinton says it is OK that Bush has not gotten involved in presidential politics

Yet, in an interview this week with CNN, former President Clinton appeared to support his Republican predecessor's choice to not get involved in this year's partisan presidential contest.

"First of all, he’s spoken up, I think, more than he’s gotten credit for, and he takes every opportunity that I’ve seen to talk about how important immigration is and how we can’t survive without it," Clinton said in alluding to prior remarks from Bush that sharply contrast with former President Trump's stated policy agenda.

"He also knows, beginning with our relationship, it’s very different when you’re out of political life, when there is no competition, no consequence,” he continued. "And I think he believes that since he was a proud Republican all those years, it’s enough for him to make clear what he believes with all this, without giving up the party he’s been with all his life."

Clinton says Bush is quietly supporting Democratic challenger to GOP Sen. Ted Cruz

However, even as he seemed to defend Bush, Clinton may also have caused problems for him in that CNN interview by strongly suggesting that the former GOP president was quietly supporting Rep. Collin Allred (D-TX), the Democratic challenger to incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).

The outlet noted that Allred represents the congressional district Bush resides in and received a congratulatory message from the former president when he first won that seat in 2018, though Bush has not ever been publicly involved in Allred's campaign or the current Senate race in his home state.

That said, an anonymous source close to Bush told CNN of Clinton's remarks, "President Bush has indeed moved on from presidential politics, but he has been working quietly and diligently to keep the Senate in GOP control." That source did not specify if that quiet work included support for Sen. Cruz.