Former President George W. Bush will not support President Trump in his effort to seek reelection this year.
People familiar with his thinking told the New York Times the 43rd president won’t back his fellow Republican, who will likely face former Vice President Joe Biden in the general election.
Freddy Ford, a spokesman for Bush, said the former president plans to speak out only on policy issues.
Just four days ago, Bush spoke out about George Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis police custody on Memorial Day, and the nationwide protests that have followed. Bush said he was “anguished” by Floyd’s death and declared it was “time for America to examine our tragic failures.”
The report did not specify whether Bush plans to vote for Trump or anyone else. Ford issued a follow-up response to the Texas Tribune, saying it is “completely made up” to assert Bush won’t vote for Trump’s reelection. “He is retired from presidential politics and has not indicated how he will vote,” he said.
There is little love between Trump and the Bush family.
Bush and his wife Laura did not vote for Trump or the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, in the 2016 election.
Bush and his father, former President George H.W. Bush, declined to support Trump after he became the GOP nominee that year, choosing not to appear at the Republican National Convention. The elder Bush died in 2018.
George W. Bush’s younger brother, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, entered a crowded field for the Republican nomination as the centrist front-runner in 2016, but his campaign quickly fizzled amid repeated insults by Trump. Jeb is said to be unsure how he will vote in this year’s election.
George W. Bush did attend Trump’s inauguration, after which he said the 45th president’s speech “was some weird shit,” according to New York Magazine.
After Bush released a video last month encouraging people to unite against the coronavirus, Trump lashed out. “He was nowhere to be found in speaking up against the greatest Hoax in American history!” Trump said in a tweet referring to his impeachment trial.
A Message from President George W. Bush@TheCalltoUnite pic.twitter.com/FIn9wuOPTF
— George W. Bush Presidential Center (@TheBushCenter) May 2, 2020
Trump’s penchant for attacking fellow Republicans who are not in lockstep with him, among other issues, has cost the president the support of other high-profile figures.
Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee who lost to President Barack Obama in 2012, won’t support Trump and may write his wife Ann’s name on the ballot. Cindy McCain, the wife of the late John McCain, a senator from Arizona and the failed GOP presidential nominee in 2008, is expected to support Biden.
