George P. Bush is the the most notable member of his family to stick with Trump, even as the president has built his political profile in part on savaging the Bushes
By
Adam Carlson
and
Diane Herbst
April 10, 2019 08:22 PM
There is no love lost between President Donald Trump and the Bushes — most of them, anyway.
At an event in Texas to sign a pair of executive orders related to energy, Trump called on stage the state’s land commissioner, George P. Bush, who is the grandson of former President George H. W. Bush and “the only Bush that likes me,” Trump joked to the crowd.
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The president has been a fierce critic of George P.’s father, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, but spoke warmly of George P. and shook his hand.
Unlike other prominent Bushes, however, George P. voted for Trump.
“I want to meet you. He’s a friend of my son and he’s a great guy,” Trump said at the event. “Truly, this is the Bush that got it right.”
After George P. returned to the crowd, Trump said, “Good guy, I like him, I like him. He’s going far. He’s going places.”
He has had harsher sentiments to share about other members of the Bush family — and they about him.
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Both former President George W. Bush and his father have been open about their feelings for their Republican successor (whom neither voted for), and a new biography of former First Lady Barbara Bush detailed the depth of her dislike for Trump.
Decades ago she wrote in her diary that he signified “[g]reed, selfishness and ugly.”
After the 2016 presidential election results were in, Mrs. Bush “woke up and discovered, to [her] horror, that Trump had won,” author Susan Page writes in
In a 2017 book, the 41st president called Trump “a blowhard,” while his son, the 43rd president, said, “This guy doesn’t know what it means to be president.”
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The elder Bush even voted for Hillary Clinton — the first time in his life he voted for a Democrat for president, according to Page. Mrs. Bush wrote in her diary that she could not vote for either candidate and instead wrote in Jeb’s name.
George W. and his wife, former First Lady Laura Bush, declined to vote for either Clinton or Trump, according to
Grandson George P., however, was supportive: He is the sole Bush currently elected to state or federal office after four generations of prominent politicians. And he was the the most notable Bush to stick with Trump, who built his campaign in part of savaging their family’s legacy.
“Politics is a tough business,” George P. explained to local TV station KXAS in 2016. “The commitment I made to not only the Republican Party here, but to my own supporters that wanted me to support Donald Trump, the candidate, was that the alternative was far worse.”
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Last year, Trump endorsed George P. during his primary to be re-elected as land commissioner.
Such warmth is not a total anomaly between the Bushes and Trump. Sharon Bush, ex-wife of H. W. Bush’s son Neil with whom she raised three children, also voted for Trump, she told PEOPLE recently.
When Sharon was at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida last month, where she was having dinner with a friend, Trump “called me over because he knew I was a Bush,” she told PEOPLE. “He called me over to say hi and I told him I voted for him.”
“He was happy to hear that because of the Barbara Bush bashing of him and the countdown clock she had,” Sharon said. “I think he was very happy.”