Former President George W. Bush seems to be getting a little restless down in Texas, at least if the latest Daily Mail report is anywhere close to accurate. Apparently Bush and his circle are sketching out plans to swoop back in and reclaim the Republican Party once President Trump leaves office in 2029. It is quite a plot twist, considering Bush has spent most of his post presidency quietly painting, golfing, hosting charity events and showing up at random sports games like the nation’s most polite ghost.
For years he has avoided wading into the political mud. The closest he came was campaigning for Jeb back in 2016, which went about as well as a paper straw in a milkshake. Every now and then he has lobbed a complaint about so called nativism or complained that the political climate feels too rough for his liking. But for the most part he has stayed out of the spotlight while President Trump rebuilt the Republican coalition into something far more energized and far less impressed with the old establishment routine.
Now, though, his public chatter is ticking up. And not surprisingly, the same crowd that spent years insisting Republicans needed to move left is begging him to jump in. Michael Steele practically pleaded through the television camera, saying, “President Bush, please man, we could use your voice right now.” Then he added that Bush’s voice would “resonate with a lot more Americans than some folks around you are telling you.” The irony of Steele, now a vocal MSNBC Democrat, offering strategic advice to Republicans is something you almost have to laugh at.
The Mail’s reporting claims Bush allies always knew they had to ride out President Trump’s second term before making any moves. Now rumors are swirling of a so called Bush Exile ending, complete with a shadow Republican Party supposedly waiting to reassert control. According to them, Bush will not publicly criticize President Trump, which has irritated some of his old advisers, but he might quietly try to shape the future of the party.
One former Bush official even admitted that President Trump “knows that there’s no third term option,” while acknowledging that JD Vance already has “a head start” for 2028. Polls have shown Vance leading comfortably, which only adds to the frustration of those itching for a return to the pre Trump GOP. Still, the Bush ally insisted 2028 will be “a big open field,” which seems optimistic at best.
Bush has popped up before to take jabs at President Trump, complaining in 2019 that so called isolationism was destabilizing the world, then later telling CBS that Trump lacked the “humility” needed to lead. It looks like those old disagreements are still simmering. Whether Bush world can actually reclaim the party is another story entirely.
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