Rove: I did not want Cheney as VP

Karl Rove did not want President George W. Bush to pick Dick Cheney as his vice presidential nominee in 2000, the former top White House adviser said Thursday.

In an interview set to air on CNN, Rove, who was Bush's deputy chief of staff, said that he was against Cheney for political reasons, Cheney's underlying health conditions and the fact that he served as Secretary for Defense for Bush's father.

"He was set on Cheney for vice president, and I thought it was a bad idea," Rove told CNN.

But he said that Bush wanted someone "who would be a good president to step in in [his] place."

"It may be the one argument in your lifetime that the left wishes you would have won," CNN's John King replied.

Cheney was often the scourge of Democrats during the Bush administration for his support of the Iraq War and ties to defense contractors. The former vice president has remained a strident critic of the Obama administration since Bush left office, while the former has remained relatively silent.

Rove, who is currently promoting his new book," said that he and Cheney have become "great friends."

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