White House fires back at former presidents who criticized Trump in new book

Eline de Bruijn, The Dallas Morning News

Nov. 04: Both ex-president Bushes revealed they did not vote for President Donald Trump in a new book, with 41st President George H.W. Bush calling Trump a “blowhard” and saying he does not “like” him, Newsweek reported. White House officials responded in a statement Saturday morning, attacking the legacy of the last living Republican presidents.

George H.W. Bush voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton, while George W. Bush told author Mark K. Updegrove he voted for “none of the above” in the upcoming book titled “The Last Republicans,” which is set to be published later this month.

A statement from the White House called the Iraq war “one of the greatest foreign policy mistakes in American history,” in a statement to CNN.

“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 statement to CNN said. “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 policy and standing up for the forgotten men and women of our great country.”

A White House statement also said the past presidencies made “costly mistakes,” according to a statement provided to The Hill.

“The American people voted to elect an outsider who is capable of implementing real, positive, and needed change — instead of a lifelong politician beholden to special interests,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement to The Hill. “If they were interested in continuing decades of costly mistakes, another establishment politician more concerned with putting politics over people would have won.”

The younger Bush told the book’s author during the 2016 presidential election, “I’m worried that I will be the last Republican president,” The New York Times reported.

“At the time, I think he was concerned that Hillary Clinton would win,” Updegrove said to The Times. “But if you look at his values and those shared by his father and Ronald Reagan, they are very much in contrast to the values of the Republican Party today, in particular the platform that Donald Trump ran on, which is essentially protectionism and a certain xenophobia.”

“I don’t like him,” H. W. Bush said in May 2016, The Times reported. “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.” Rather than being motivated by public service, Bush said Trump seemed to be driven by “a certain ego,” The Times reported.

The younger Bush admitted his brother, Jeb Bush, who ran for the Republican nomination, “didn’t fit with the mood.”

Trump attacked opponents in the race for the Republican nomination, including Jeb Bush, who he called “low-energy.”

“You can either exploit the anger, incite it,” George W. Bush told Updegrove, “or you can come up with ideas to deal with it.”

“If you’re angry with the powers that be,” he added, “you’re angry with the so-called establishment, and there’s nothing more established than having a father and brother that have been president.”

George W. Bush was surprised when Trump won the party nomination and didn’t expect Trump to win the election, Updegrove said.

“If you look at the Bush family, it makes perfect sense. Donald Trump is everything that the Bush family is not,” Updegrove told CNN. “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.”

George H.W. Bush told the author he voted for Hillary Clinton.

“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,’” Updegrove told CNN.

The younger Bush didn’t follow his father’s lead because he had concerns over Hillary’s use of a private email server, he told the author before Election Day. He told Updegrove it was up to the country to decide for both candidates “to what extent should we be insisting upon integrity and solid character.”

The book will be available Nov. 14.