DONALD TRUMP’S PAST ISSUES WITH THE BUSH FAMILIY TAKES A TURN

 

                                     …George P. Bush is a true Trump supporter

 

There continues to be ups and downs between the Bush’s and the Trump’s

It is amazing that Donald Trump continues to go after a number of former President George W. Bush’s relatives, such as his attacks on Jeb Bush in the 2016 election.  You know, when he started to refer to Jeb Bush by nicknaming him “Low Energy Jeb” as they jockeyed for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

Trump also made negative comments about George W. Bush and Trump has said that Jeb and George W. Bush’s mother, former first lady Barbara Bush, has a good reason to dislike him.

“Look what I did to her sons,” Trump said.

But now, we introduce a new George Bush.  This one is George P. Bush, whose latest campaign video for running for the Texas Attorney General position, does not mention the Republican political dynasty that has preceded him.  He does not mention his father, the former governor of Florida, Jeb Bush. Nor his uncle, the 43^rd President of the United States. Nor his grandfather, the 41^st U.S. President.

But the video does pay homage to former president, Donald Trump.

In fact, this is what garbage this new Bush has to say about the former 45^th U.S. President: “Under the leadership of President Trump our country was strong and vibrant again, but because of the failed leadership of liberal ideas, our country is suffering.” This was said by George P. Bush, who has launched a 2022 bid to become the Texas Attorney General.  George P. Bush, the current Texas State Land Commissioner, who is channeling and courting Trump despite the 45th president’s past attacks on the elder members of the Bush family.  It is a sign of Trump’s still-strong hold on a transformed GOP.

 Scholars of Texas politics said the Bush name can still be a plus in the state, but they also saw Trump’s endorsement as a big prize in the GOP primary for Attorney General, where George P. Bush will face incumbent Attorney General, Ken Paxton.  Paxton is also staunchly pro-Trump and last year he filed a lawsuit trying to overturn election results, fueling the baseless claims of widespread voter fraud.  The lawsuit was thrown out of court.

“This will be a close race with a very conservative primary electorate,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston. Trump’s approval will be “a big gold belt buckle,” he added.

Cal Jillson, a professor of political science at Southern Methodist University, said that in trying to manage both his family’s reputation and Trump’s now-dominant role, Bush is clearly bending toward Trump.

“You hope not to have to demean yourself in order to win,” Jillson said. “But if that turns out to be necessary, and you expect to have a political future … you’ve gotta do what you gotta do.”

This Bush has aligned himself with Trump before. He got Trump’s endorsement in his reelection campaign for Land Commissioner amid in a crowded primary.  In 2019, he joined the former president on stage in Texas as Trump declared him “the only Bush who got it right” and “the only Bush who likes me.”  Still, the 45-year-old Bush’s messaging has left some marveling and it resurfaced the bitter history between Trump and prominent conservatives, once seen as party leaders.

This Bush’s campaign even put the family’s tensions with Trump front-and-center in its swag items. Scott Braddock posted pictures of a red “George P. Bush for Attorney General” bottle or can drink koozie.  It  featured a drawing of Trump with Bush and the “This is the Bush that got it right” quote.

Bush’s campaign did not respond to inquiries about the koozie and Trump’s relationship with the candidate’s family.

Trump had particular negative attitude for George P. Bush’s father, Jeb Bush, when he first nicknamed him “Low Energy Jeb”.  This was as they both jockeyed for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.  In 2015, Trump took aim at George P. Bush’s mother as well:  Trump used his favorite communication “Twitter” to tweet that Jeb Bush “has to like the Mexican Illegals because of his wife,” who had immigrated from Mexico. (“This is ludicrous,” Jeb Bush responded at the time).

Trump has also criticized George W. Bush over the Iraq War, and that Bush joined other living ex-presidents this January in denouncing the January 6^th storming of the Capitol. In a statement, George W. Bush did not name Trump specifically, but he denounced any politicians who “inflamed” the rioters and said, “This is how election results are disputed in a banana republic, not our democratic republic. I am appalled by the reckless behavior of some political leaders since the election.”

George P. Bush’s family ties have had previous political repercussions: In 2018, Donald Trump Jr. canceled a fundraiser for him after Jeb Bush and former first lady Laura Bush denounced the Trump administration’s separation of migrant families as “heartless” and “immoral.”

“I appreciate the need to enforce and protect our international boundaries, but this zero-tolerance policy is cruel,” Laura Bush had written in a piece for The Washington Post.

George P. Bush’s doubling-down on support for Trump, especially the drink koozie, drew some negative reactions.  For many, the approach underscored Trump’s sway among Republicans despite his election loss and the divisions he has sown among members of his party.

“George P Bush choosing Trump over his own family in Texas says everything about where the GOP is right now,” tweeted Dan Pfeiffer, the co-host of a political podcast and an ex-adviser to former Democratic president Barack Obama.

Bush’s rivals for the attorney general position, they are on both ends of the political spectrum, and they weighed in as well.

“I figured @georgebush would run against Ken Paxton in the Republican primary for Texas Attorney General,” tweeted Lee Merritt, a Democrat and prominent civil rights lawyer. “I never thought that he would forsake his own dad while clamoring for an endorsement from Trump.”

Paxton, meanwhile, who was made very vulnerable by accusations of bribery and other misconduct, he shared a tweet highlighting Bush’s family ties.

Sarah Gonzales, a host on the conservative BlazeTV, had written a tweet supporting Ken Paxon, referring to a moment from Jeb Bush’s 2016 presidential bid that drew ridicule.

Paxton won the 2018 Attorney General’s race by only 3.6 points ahead of the Democratic candidate.

In an interview on Fox, George P. Bush was not asked about Trump’s clashes with his family.  He argued that Republicans deserved a choice besides Paxton, who is under investigation.  He called himself a conservative advocate for Texas “without the baggage” and said he had used his position as Land Commissioner to fight “federal overreach.”

His new campaign video for Attorney General opens with Bush decrying the “liberal mob in Washington” over footage of the U.S. Capitol, which was literally overrun on Jan. 6 by a mob of Trump supporters upset about the election and urged on by the former president.  Some Republican lawmakers have sought to play down or recast the rioting that forced lawmakers’ evacuations, featured chants of “Hang Mike Pence,” and resulted in five deaths as well as more than a hundred police officers injured.

George P. Bush told the Texas Tribune last month that he does not believe the 2020 presidential election was stolen, as Trump has falsely claimed.

Asked on Fox whether Trump would endorse him, Bush said “we had a great conversation a few days ago.”

“He sent me his best,” Bush said. “He had great words of encouragement.”

Trump recently told CNN that he plans to make an endorsement in the race and he “likes both Paxton and Bush very much.”

Leave it to Donald Trump to get involved with someone he considers to support that is being accused of bribery and other misconduct.

That’s pure Donald Trump.

Copyright G. Ater 2021