Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush announced his intention to vote for President Donald Trump in November, representing a rare public nod of support for the president from Bush’s legendary political family.
“President Trump is the only thing standing between America and socialism,” Bush, the son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and nephew of former President George W. Bush, said in a statement provided by his office while also announcing plans to give Trump a formal endorsement.
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“I endorsed President Trump in the 2016 election cycle and plan to do so again in 2020," he said, without offering a timetable for when the future endorsement would come.
The announcement, which was first reported by The Dallas Morning News, comes on the heels of a New York Times report that cited people close to George W. Bush who said they were aware of the former president’s intention not to cast a vote for Trump in November. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was reportedly not “sure how he'll vote,” but a spokesman for the former president has since told The Texas Tribune that the story is “completely made up."
Bush has been a supporter and ally of the president since Trump won the nomination in 2016. Trump reciprocated in 2018, endorsing Bush for land commissioner in Bush’s 2018 primary.
Trump praised Bush for supporting him "when it wasn't the politically correct thing to do," making a reference to, among others, the members of the Bush family who distanced themselves from the president’s rhetoric as Jeb Bush withered during the 2016 race.
Neither former President George H.W. Bush nor his wife First Lady Barbara Bush voted for Trump in 2016, joining the Bush brothers who also declined to vote for the president. George P. Bush has been called by the president the “Bush that got it right” and Bush has been supportive of Trump’s policies and in the president’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Even in a global pandemic where we have had to take unprecedented measures to protect public health, the economy is already returning,” Bush told The Dallas Morning News. “It’s clear, America and Texas will continue to be stronger than ever.”