The recent campaign launch by a Bush family scion has upended their longstanding unity, causing heartbreak behind the scenes and even a rare public rebuke from a longtime Bush loyalist.
The Bushes have long been known for their conservative politics and loyalty to their inner circle. Political consultants and advisers for former President George H.W. Bush, former President George W. Bush, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush often worked with them for a decade or more, remaining in close contact years after the time in elected office had come to an end.
George P. Bush, Jeb’s son, was elected as Texas Land Commissioner in 2014, his first elected office, and he easily won reelection in 2018. He was a frequent sight on the campaign trail for his father’s 2016 presidential campaign, as pictured above. This week, he announced that he would challenge incumbent Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in 2022.
Bush’s campaign launch was notable in at least two ways: the lack of other Bushes and the direct appeal to former President Donald Trump. Neither of Bush’s parents, Jeb or Columba Bush, were present at his announcement speech, nor was his presidential uncle GWB. Jeb and Columba had attended a number of his previous campaign events. This reporter spoke with Jeb at George P.’s 2018 election night party in March 2018, and he had made comments about being a proud father seeing his son succeed.
Another noteworthy absence from George P. Bush’s campaign is other Bush alumni. Karl Rove, who served as W’s chief of staff, continues to advise GOP campaigns from his Austin-based consulting firm, but he is not involved in GPB’s AG campaign, and other recognizable names of still-active Republican consultants who worked for other Bushes have not been hired either.
Back in 2016, Trump was a freight train through the Republican presidential primary, crushing a crowd of far more experienced GOP candidates, including Jeb, a frequent target of Trump’s humiliating insults.
George P. was the sole Bush who voted for Trump in 2016, and strongly endorsed his 2020 re-election campaign. Other Bushes have continued to publicly criticize Trump over the years, but George P. has continued to support Trump, including backing the ouster of Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), herself connected to the Bush family through her father Dick Cheney, from House GOP leadership.
The campaign swag at Bush’s AG launch event included beer koozies depicting a rally where Trump praised Bush as “the only Bush that likes me” and “the Bush that got it right.”
MSNBC’s Chris Hayes brutally mocked this campaign messaging as showing a “weird fetish” for “humiliation.” Matthew Dowd, chief strategist for George W. Bush’s 2004 campaign, called it a “sad tale” to see George P. “abandoning” his family to “suck up to Donald Trump.”
Rove dropped his own comment on the family divisions on Twitter Friday, tweeting a photo of the latest book he’s reading. “The perfect beach read…warm, deeply personal,” was Rove’s review of Jean Becker’s The Man I Knew: The Amazing Story of George H. W. Bush’s Post-Presidency.
Rove is not a prolific tweeter, posting something new usually only once every few days, and is known for being very deliberate and strategic in his communications.
“There is an enormous disturbance inside the Bush family” regarding George P.’s support for Trump, said one longtime Republican consultant who spoke to Mediaite on condition of anonymity. “Jeb is heartbroken,” he said, adding that he had heard the word heartbroken “repeatedly” in conversations this week with various Bush family insiders.
This consultant and another Republican strategist based in Texas (again speaking on condition on anonymity) both remarked that Rove’s tweet, about a book honoring the late patriarch of the Bush dynasty, should be viewed as a rebuke of George P.’s schism from the family.
Boy, Karl really went out on a limb there didn’t he?
The article doesn’t mention that Trump calls George P “my Bush” which is, of course, a double entendre. And:
“I can tell you the president enjoys the prospect of knowing how much it kills Jeb that his son has to bend the knee and kiss the ring,” a Trump confidant told Politico. “Who’s your daddy? Trump loves that.”