Columbia, SC – George W. Bush never mentioned Donald Trump. But with his folky touch, the former president unleashed a tough takedown Monday of the billionaire businessman who has upended a Republican Party his family has long led.
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“I understand Americans are angry and frustrated,” Bush said during his first campaign rally for his brother, Jeb Bush. “But we do not need somebody in the Oval Office who mirrors and inflames our anger and frustration.”
Trump’s rise has confounded the Bush family and its allies. But despite months of predicting the brash billionaire would fade, it’s Jeb Bush whose White House hopes are in peril, particularly if he’s unable to pull out a strong showing in Saturday’s South Carolina primary.
The former president emerged from his self-imposed political hibernation to try to give Bush a boost. He layered each validation of his younger brother with an implicit critique of Trump.
He urged voters to back a candidate who will be “measured and thoughtful” on the world stage. A candidate whose “humility” helps him understand what he doesn’t know. A candidate who can win in November’s general election.
“All the sloganeering and all the talk doesn’t matter if we don’t win,” Bush said. “We need somebody who can take a positive message across the country.”
The former president’s return to presidential politics has been met with blistering attacks from Trump about the unpopular Iraq war and the economic recession that began at the end of his administration. Trump has also repeatedly reminded voters that the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks happened on Bush’s watch.
“If the ex-president is campaigning for his brother, I think he’s probably open to great scrutiny, maybe things that haven’t been thought of in the past,” Trump told reporters Monday.
Rather than gloss over 9/11, Bush leaned in. As the crowd fell into a hushed silence, he recounted in detail his whereabouts on the morning of the attacks and praised the troops that served in the two wars he started in response.
“Your most solemn job as voters is to elect a president who understands the reality of the threats we face,” he said.
Jeb Bush has spent months trying to figure out how to handle the former president. His brother, the 43rd president, left office deeply unpopular with a nation fatigued by the Iraq War and angry over his botched response to Hurricane Katrina. He’s also a reminder to voters eager to break with the political establishment that Jeb Bush would be the third man from his family to serve as president.
Not only will Bush’s attempt to help his brother not succeed, I predict that in the long run, it will cost Jeb votes. #43 should have stayed out of this election, as voters have long memories. Incidentally, do any of you honestly think that “W” made an appearance for his brother (whom he is not that close with), for nothing? He was well compensated!
Trump is appealing to the voters because he’s reminding voters of failed Washington policies such as NAFTA taking our jobs. The establishment is scrambling because all they can offer is empathy. So W, go home and enjoy your$$$ from your ties to the Saudi Arabian king in your retirement!
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I agree with #2 . Bush let the Saudis off easy after 9/11/01. He should have demanded that they paid some compensation to the families of the victims; fifteen of the nineteen 9/11 hijackers were Saudi nationals. Also, to this date, the portion of the 9/11 Commission Report, which investigated Saudi involvement in the funding of the 9/11 terrorists has been redacted, and is not available for public consumption. We will never no who in the Saudi government assisted the 9/11 hijackers, through money laundering, and back channel funding.
Bush recounted where he was!!!
Let’s “go to the tape.”
I remember video of him in that classroom with his frozen “Deer in the Headlights” look, his inability to appropriate react, and his finally deciding to attack those who launched the attacks but to instead start a terrible war with Iraq thus freeing Iran and their multiple fanatics onto the area and the world.
Go, George, Go.
Try to make us believe that you are competent when even Jeb tried to distance himself from you and your (and Cheney’s) actions.
Jen bush is a nerdy embarrassment. I cringe every time he speaks at a debate, when Trump makes him look and sound like a fool, yuck. Why is he even bothering staying in the race?!