As the U.S. President Donald Trump stands accused by many of having failed to respond to the ongoing racism issue, the insane police brutality and inequalities that demonstrators are protesting in the country, ahead of the November election, Former President George W. Bush is reportedly withdrawing his support from Trump's re-election.
The 43rd President of America, Bush is one of several members at the top of the GOP (a name for the Republican Party), who are keeping quiet on their support for the incumbent. The New York Times reported that it is not clear whether Bush will end supporting Democratic candidate Joe Biden or not. Along with Bush, the U.S. Senator from Utah Mitt Romney is also said to be considering placing a vote for Biden. Early reports revealed that neither Bush nor Romney voted for Trump in the 2016 election.
Controversy Ahead of U.S. Election
At this time, when the U.S. has been witnessing nationwide demonstrations after the death of 46-year-old Minnesota citizen and American African George Floyd, the Trump administration faced backlashes by many celebrities and politicians for their response to the protests against racism in the country.
Even though Bush has not spoken out publicly against Trump, the president tweeted about his predecessor during his impeachment trial. He wrote on Twitter: "Oh bye [sic] the way, I appreciate the message from former President Bush, but where was he during Impeachment calling for putting partisanship aside. He was nowhere to be found in speaking up against the greatest Hoax in American history!".
As reported by Statesman Dan Bartlett, who served during the Bush administration in the White House as a counselor to the president, said that he hasn't "heard of anything about Bush even contemplating an endorsement and would be surprised if he jumped in on either side."
While talking about Bush's feelings about Trump, the Republican book author, and expert Mark Updegrove said, "He is obviously not a fan," and added that in the mid of 2016, Bush told him "Trump 'really doesn't understand the job of the president' and later that he voted for 'none of the above." According to Updegrove, it is unlikely for Bush to vote for former Vice President Biden in November but he would not be endorsing Trump.
Trump Losing Support
As per the reports, the former Governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, who is the brother of George W Bush is also planning not to vote for Trump, along with former U.S. Senator John McCain's widow, Cindy McCain, who is likely to vote for Biden. It was also reported that Republican former Speaker Paul Ryan and former Speaker John Boehner are not declaring publicly how they will vote in November, while other GOP may decide to go for a third-party contender or simply openly declare their vote for Biden.
The 77-year-old electoral candidate Biden, who was recently accused of being a pedophile by Donald Trump Jr, who had failed to provide evidence to back his point, is about to launch a 'Republicans for Biden' arm to his campaign.
Many Republicans are thinking that holding back a vote for Trump is growing with some possibility contemplating a vote for the Democrats, especially in the light of Trump administration's response to the "Black Lives Matter" protests and the handling of Coronavirus outbreak in the country.
It was reported that the party divisions in the GOP emerged after Trump's former Secretary of Defense, retired Marine General James Mattis issued a stinging public rebuke of Trump, accusing the president of "abuse of executive authority" to stage a "bizarre photo op" which saw authorities having to tear gas peaceful U.S. protesters outside the White House. Mattis wrote in a statement that "Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us."
Senator for Alaska, Lisa Murkowski of Maine said that she is struggling to decide whether she can support Trump's re-election, and backed Mattis's critique. However, there are still many top Republicans whom Trump can count that includes Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, Senator Ted Cruz and Senator Lindsey Graham.
