begin quote from:
Bush 41 calls Trump a 'blowhard'; WH strikes back - CNNPolitics
www.cnn.com/2017/11/04/politics/the-last-republicans-bush-book/index.html
Bush 41 calls Trump a 'blowhard'; White House strikes back
This article contains strong language.
(CNN)The
White House has struck back at both Bush presidents Saturday after the
two made stinging comments about President Donald Trump in a new book
about the father and son.
"If
one presidential candidate can disassemble a political party, it speaks
volumes about how strong a legacy its past two presidents really had," a
White House official told CNN. "And that begins with the Iraq war, one
of the greatest foreign policy mistakes in American history."
"President
Trump remains focused on keeping his promises to the American people by
bringing back jobs, promoting an 'America First' foreign policy and
standing up for the forgotten men and women of our great county," the
official said.
Former President
George H.W. Bush delivered a blunt assessment of Trump in historian Mark
Updegrove's new book, titled "The Last Republicans," saying, "He's a
blowhard." And former President George W. Bush also had harsh words for
his Republican successor: "This guy doesn't know what it means to be
president."
En
route to Tokyo on Saturday, Trump was more restrained when asked for
reaction to the Bushes' comments. "I'll comment after we come back. I
don't need headlines. I don't want to make their move successful," he
said.
This
is the first time the former presidents are speaking out about Trump in
such stark terms. Both men went on the record to give Updegrove their
candid assessment of Trump, as well as rare insight into their thoughts
on the 2016 presidential race as the drama unfolded.
The
most critical comments about Trump came from the elder Bush, now 93,
who told Updegrove in May 2016, "I don't like him. I don't know much
about him, but I know he's a blowhard. And I'm not too excited about him
being a leader."
The author went
on to ask George H.W. Bush what he thought Trump was seeking in running
for president, and the former Navy war hero responded by saying that
Trump had "a certain ego." Though George H.W. Bush told the author he
thought Trump could unite the country, he said it would require
"humility," which the former President told Updegrove was a challenge
for Trump.
In commenting about the
Bushes' remarks, Updegrove told CNN's Jamie Gangel: "If you look at the
Bush family, it makes perfect sense. Donald Trump is everything that the
Bush family is not."
"George Bush
grew up thinking about the greater good. Donald Trump is manifestly
narcissistic. It's part of his brand. And that brand is the antithesis
of the Bush brand," Updegrove added.
George
W. Bush echoed his father's sentiments when he told Updegrove, "As you
know from looking at my family, (humility) is a certain heritage. That's
what they expect, and we're not seeing that (in Trump)."
Updegrove
told CNN: "When Donald Trump said, 'I am my own adviser,' Bush thought
-- and this is a quote -- 'Wow, this guy doesn't know what it means to
be president.'"
In the book,
Updegrove writes that the younger Bush did not think Trump would win
when he first entered the presidential race. "Interesting, won't last"
was the reaction that George W. Bush had in those days, Updegrove
writes. And he added that the younger Bush was surprised when Trump
emerged as the Republican Party nominee. "When you're not out there and
you're not with the people, you don't get a good sense of (the mood),'"
George W. Bush told Updegrove.
CNN
has reached out to both former presidents' offices and they both
confirmed that they had spoken with Updegrove on the record, but as a
policy do not comment on books.
On Hillary Clinton
In
the end, neither Bush voted for their party's nominee. George H.W. Bush
confirmed that he voted for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. George
W. Bush told Updegrove he left the top of the ballot blank.
"I voted 'None of the Above' for president, and Republican down ballot in 2016," he said.
He
went on to say that concern with the former secretary of state's
judgment kept him from following his father's lead. He told the author
in the weeks leading up to Election Day, "The question for the country
to decide -- on both candidates, by the way -- is to what extent should
we be insisting upon integrity and solid character."
George
W. Bush described his relationship with Clinton, according to
Updegrove, saying: "'In my presence, she was polite ... thoughtful," he
said, but alluding to her using a private email server as secretary of
state, he added, "obviously tangled up in bad judgment. This email
thing, putting confidential information out there in a world where all
kinds of people can figure out how to get your emails was not good
judgment."
In the end, the younger
Bush concluded it was "a strange election year," and told Updegrove both
candidates were "among the few in the country" who made each other
"viable."
'Prodigal son'
The
book includes other blunt comments by George W. Bush, including his
reaction to stories about his rebellious youth and the perception that
his vice president, Dick Cheney, exercised too much power.
In
the first chapter, George W. Bush calls the notion that he was the
"prodigal son," a reference to a wayward son in the Bible, "bullshit."
And in a 2012 interview with Updegrove, Bush told the historian he
"chased a lot of pussy and drank a lot of whiskey" as a young man, but
added, "I was never the prodigal son because I never left my family."
The
author told CNN he concluded that though Bush was rowdy in his younger
years and his antics rose "to the level of sophomoric hijinks that might
be the basis of fraternity lore," his rebelliousness has been greatly
exaggerated.
This isn't the only
notion Bush tries to dispel. When asked about the power and influence of
former vice president Cheney and former Secretary of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld in his administration, George W. Bush replied that Cheney and
Rumsfeld "didn't make one fucking decision."
Discussing
that quote, Updegrove told CNN, "I understand his frustration, because
at the time there was the perception that Dick Cheney was the acting
president. That Cheney was sort of a Machiavellian puppet master. But,
in fact, George W. Bush had had a lifetime of making bold decisions. He
has this natural confidence in himself as a leader. And if you talk to
those around him, they have confidence in his leadership. And so, this
notion that Cheney was making the decisions is ludicrous."
Father and son
The
relationship between father and son is what drove Updegrove, who is a
historian and former director of the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential
Library, to write "The Last Republicans."
"There
are so many misconceptions about this relationship," the author told
CNN. "You have to get the story right, and I felt in order to do that,
you had to talk to the principles themselves." Updegrove spoke with both
former presidents several times in the past few years in order to delve
into their personal connection, which he repeatedly described as "very
close."
Even so, the author said
that George H.W. Bush was careful not to interfere when his son became
President. "Because he understands what it is to be president, and he
doesn't want to be a burden to his son," Updegrove told CNN. "So what he
is, instead, is a comforter in chief. He's there for his son to be a
loving presence in his life. That's what he considers his most important
role."
The bottom line: Updegrove
calls the relationship between the first father-son presidential duo in
more than 150 years "a complicated love story, but a love story
nonetheless."
The title
As for "The Last Republicans," Updegrove said the idea came from a comment George W. Bush made after last year's election.
"George
W. Bush himself said in 2016 privately, and then to me, that 'you know,
I fear that I will be the last Republican president.' And it wasn't
just about Hillary Clinton becoming president, as the Republican Party
was having a difficult time finding itself. It was because Donald Trump
represented everything that the Bushes abhorred," the author told CNN.
When
asked his thoughts on George W. Bush's fear, Updegrove told CNN,
"There's no question that I think there's a battle for the soul of the
Republican Party. And the Republicans have to figure out who they are,
and what they stand for."
"The Last Republicans" goes on sale on November 14.
No comments:
Post a Comment