Bill Clinton Defends George W. Bush’s 2024 Silence
The former president also revealed who Bush likes in Texas’ close Senate race.
Noam Galai/Getty Images for HISTORY
Former President Bill Clinton defended his fellow member of the former presidents’ club—George W. Bush—for his silence on the presidential election, saying Bush wouldn’t want to alienate the party he’d dedicated his life to.
Dubya has largely avoided commenting on presidential politics over the last 10 years after endorsing John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012. Instead, he’s advocated for down-ballot GOP races, hosting a fundraiser for Pennsylvania senate candidate Dave McCormick in April.
“First of all, he’s spoken up, I think, more than he’s gotten credit for, and he takes every opportunity that I’ve seen to talk about how important immigration is and how we can’t survive without it,” Clinton told CNN in an interview that aired Sunday.
Another candidate Bush apparently likes: Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX), the Democratic senate candidate in Texas who represents Bush’s home district. Clinton said Bush directly told him of his appreciation for Allred. “He’ll tell anybody that, that he’s a good guy,” Clinton said.
“He also knows, beginning with our relationship, it’s very different when you’re out of political life, when there is no competition, no consequence,” Clinton added. “And I think he believes that since he was a proud Republican all those years, it’s enough for him to make clear what he believes with all this, without giving up the party he’s been with all his life.”
While Bush has not publicly voiced his views on Trump—unlike his vice president, Dick Cheney, who endorsed Kamala Harris in September—he hasn’t kept his opinions quiet. In a widely reported account, as Trump mused about “American carnage” during his 2017 inauguration speech, Bush leaned into Hillary Clinton with a frank assessment of the comments.
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“That was some weird sh-t,” Bush said.
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