WASHINGTON — In case you've forgotten: the Bushes are not fans of the Donald.
Former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush are going public with harsh criticisms of President Trump in a new book, according to published reports.
The elder Bush, 93, considers Trump a “blowhard” while his son thinks Trump is fanning public anger and came to the presidency with no understanding of the job.
The accounts are included in The Last Republicans, which will be published by HarperCollins on Nov. 14, according to reports in The New York Times and CNN. The book looks at the relationship between father and son and was written with their cooperation.
The elder Bush, the nation’s 41st president, confirms to the book’s author, historian Mark Updegrove, that he voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton in last year’s election and complains that Trump is motivated by a “certain ego” instead of public service.
“I don’t like him,” the elder Bush says in the book. “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.”
George W. Bush, the 43rd president, says he voted for neither Clinton nor Trump. "I voted 'None of the Above' for president, and Republican down ballot in 2016," Bush told Updegrove.
Of Trump, the younger Bush said: "This guy doesn't know what it means to be president."
The book’s publication comes just weeks after George W. Bush delivered a stern public rebuke of Trump — without once ever mentioning his name.
In a speech last month for the Bush Institute’s Spirit of Liberty event in New York, Bush called on Americans to reject bigotry and white supremacy and made bold statements that seemed to be a veiled criticism of the ultra-conservative wing of the Republican Party that has rallied around Trump.
The Bush family is still stinging from Trump’s criticism of Jeb Bush, whom Trump relentlessly hammered — and defeated — in last year’s GOP primary.
“If you’re angry with the powers that be,” George W. Bush said, “you’re angry with the so-called establishment, and there’s nothing more established than having a father and brother that have been president.”
