George Bush IS Endorsing Trump, Actually
Official statements aren't the only way to endorse a candidate or their agenda
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Pres. George W. Bush and his wife will make no endorsement in the 2024 presidential race or even reveal who they’re voting for, NBC News reported Saturday.
But Bush is endorsing former Pres. Donald Trump in important ways other than an official statement. Bush has spent tens of thousands of dollars trying to make sure Trump has a cooperative Congress if he wins.
Federal campaign filings show that Bush has been backing not just reluctant Trump supporters but full-throated fans, both of which could determine whether Trump, if he wins, can act on the full scope of his ambitions.
One day after his former vice president, Dick Cheney, confirmed that he’s supporting Vice President Kamala Harris for president, Bush’s office told NBC on Saturday that Bush “retired from presidential politics years ago.”
But even in this cycle, Bush has been donating to congressional Republican candidates openly or clandestinely supportive of Trump, federal election records show. So has former First Lady Laura Bush.
And Bush’s abstention from presidential politics didn’t prevent him from backing Senators Mitt Romney (R-UT) and John McCain (R-AZ) when they ran in 2008 and 2012. In fact, Bush was entirely comfortable in presidential politics during the 2016 primary, too, supporting his brother Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL) until Trump beat him.
At that point, Bush opted no longer to weigh in on the race. His father, former Pres. George H.W. Bush, reportedly voted for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The younger Bush said he left his 2016 ballot blank. He called the 2020 election “fundamentally fair” and said he voted for his former national security advisor, Condoleezza Rice, who was not on the ballot.
And Bush reportedly still weighs in on presidential politics when he’s speaking to an audience that paid to hear him. USA Today reported that, when Pres. Joe Biden was still running, Bush joked at a private event that he was too old to be president and he was younger than both candidates.
But presidential politics don’t stop at the White House gate. If Trump wins in November, the extent of his power will be determined in large measure by how willing Republicans are to appease or oppose him, and whether Republicans control the House or Senate.
Bush has been helping Republicans pursue both chambers, donating to multiple candidates in close races that could determine which party wins majorities.
Bush’s recipients since the start of this election cycle include five Senate candidates central to Republican hopes for winning back the chamber, which will be essential to Trump’s hopes for Supreme Court and other judicial nominations:
Sam Brown, running against Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV)
Nella Domenici, running against Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM)
Tim Sheehy, running against Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT)
Former Gov. Larry Hogan (R-MD), running against Angela Alsobrooks for Senate in Maryland
David McCormick, running against Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA).
Bush has also donated to three Republican House candidates, Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Mike Lawler (R-NY), and David Valadao (R-CA).
Some of Bush’s congressional favorites are enthusiastic Trump supporters. Others, like Bush, have avoided saying whether they support Trump.
Last week, Hogan criticized Republicans who complain about Trump privately while supporting him publicly. That’s a politically astute position in a blue state like Maryland.
But Hogan represents the flip side of the Republicans he’s scolding. Last month, Semafor revealed that Hogan has praised Trump. Privately.
Hogan’s closed-door remarks — including praising Trump’s “incredible” Supreme Court justices who earlier that year killed federal abortion rights — came in remarks to the American Jewish Coalition that were largely focused on moving past Trump. But not without Hogan also praising Trump’s record:
“He cut taxes, he unleashed the power of domestic energy production, nominated incredible justices to the Supreme Court, and his policies for Israel were the strongest we ever had.”
Hogan said, “[W]e should give President Trump all the credit he deserves for his accomplishments in office.”
Bush gave $13,200 to support Hogan in March.
Domenici reportedly was dubbed “No Answer Nella” for avoiding the Trump question. And then got called “No Show Nella” when she bailed on an interview after submitted questions included the obvious issue of whether she supports Trump.
But Bush’s $6600 to Domenici came after she was already on record attempting to delegitimize Trump’s trial for concealing hush-money payments. She echoed Trump’s made-up claims of a “justice system weaponized.” She made that statement on May 31. On June 4, Bush wrote her two checks.
Hedge funder Dave McCormick, who failed to block Trump’s choice in Pennsylvania’s last Republican Senate primary, Dr. Mehmet Oz, had no opposition in this year’s primary. Republican power players had been trying to get Trump to back McCormick since last year.
And McCormick didn’t exactly try to dissuade them.
On March 31, Bush spent $13,200 to support McCormick. Trump endorsed McCormick on April 13.
Since then, McCormick has actively campaigned with Trump — including at the Butler, PA, rally where the attempted assassination occurred in July. Trump reportedly said later that if McCormick had been on stage at the time, he “woulda been in prime time.”
At the Republican convention, when Biden was still on the ballot, McCormick characterized the election as a choice “between strength and weakness.”
Then there are the more open Trump supporters Bush has backed in this cycle. Sam Brown was recruited by Trump ally Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), chair of the Senate Republican Campaign Committee. Brown has boosted Trump’s lies about the 2020 election.
Brown made the Mar-a-Lago trek to win Trump’s endorsement back in April. He got it on June 9 and picked up $6600 from Bush two days later.
Sheehy, now leading Tester slightly in the polls, isn’t just a Trump supporter, he was a Trump surrogate in Iowa and then won Trump’s endorsement in the Montana Senate primary in February.
Bush gave Sheehy $6600 in April.
Bush’s support for House candidates is similarly focused on swing districts, in purple or even blue states. He’s backing three Republican incumbents, all of whom have, like Bush, been cagy about their support for Trump.
Lawler is facing off against former Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-NY). Despite his history of working for Trump and serving as a 2016 delegate, Lawler in late 2022 began talking about a post-Trump Republican Party. It didn’t last.
Only a few months later, Lawler said Trump’s indictment on charges of hiding his campaign hush-money payments “raises serious questions” about the prosecutor. Later that year, on Dec. 19, 2023, Bush gave Lawler $6600.
Like Bush, Lawler has tried to avoid taking a position on Trump. This year, Lawler refused to say who he was voting for in the primary until breaking his silence and saying publicly that he voted for Trump.
Bush also gave $6600 to Valadao, notoriously one of the few Republicans to vote for the second impeachment of Trump. Nevertheless, Trump last week reportedly extended an olive branch to Valadao, saying it was “good that he’s staying.”
Fitzpatrick has long had a cagy Trump profile. He voted to certify Biden as the 2020 winner, but against impeaching Trump for trying to block congressional certification of Biden’s victory. Fitzpatrick, too, questioned Trump’s handling by the justice system.
And as of March 3, Fitzpatrick wasn’t saying whether he would endorse Trump. Nevertheless, later that month, Bush gave him $6600. And another $6600 to the Team Fitz political action committee.
Last month, Fitzpatrick refused to tell the Bucks County Beacon what he thought about Trump saying he didn’t know until a number of years ago that Harris is Black, saying she “became” Black. Meanwhile, the day before, former Bucks County Rep. Jim Greenwood (R-PA) made his own presidential endorsement, for Harris.
TCB
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Well fuck him and the horse he rode in on then. Absolutely gobsmacking that his former VP whom I used to consider the embodiment of evil has more decency and honor. I used to think Gweeb was just stupid and in over his head. Damn!
Bush still sucks. It figures.
By the way, he stole the 2000 election from Al Gore, with help from Florida governor Jeb Bush and the Supreme Court.