There was no confirmation or denial from the office of the former president or his family.
President George HW Bush is reportedly voting for Hillary Clinton and not his own party’s nominee Donald Trump, according to a Facebook post from John F Kennedy’s niece.
The post by Kathleen Hartington Kennedy Townsend, the former Democratic lieutenant governor of Maryland and daughter of the late Robert F.Kennedy – shows her posing with George HW Bush with the caption “The President told me he is voting for Hillary!!â€
There was no confirmation or denial from the office of the former president or his family, which is known to harbor deep misgivings about the Republican nominee, who has also been extremely critical of the two former presidents of the family.
Jim McGrath, a Bush family spokesman, told the Guardian “The vote President Bush will cast as a private citizen in some 50 days will be just that: a private vote cast in 50 days. He is not commenting on the presidential race in the interim.â€
George HW’s son and George W’s brother, Jeb Bush was one of Trump’s unsuccessful opponents in the 2016 Republican primary and Trump has been extremely critical of the two former presidents of the family.
Both the only living Republican presidents had declared before that they were not supporting Trump and stayed away from his convention in Cleveland. But that one of them could be voting for a Democrat was a surprise.
If George HW Bush does cast his ballot for Clinton, he’ll join a number of prominent Republicans who have crossed party lines in 2016 out of disdain for Trump. The ranks include many close to the Bush family including Brent Scowcroft, George HW Bush’s national security adviser as well as Sally Bradshaw, a longtime top aide to Jeb Bush.
In July, Jeb Bush ruled out support for Clinton in a Washington post editorial writing, “I haven’t decided how I’ll vote in November –whether I’ll support the Libertarian ticket or write in a candidate.â€
Spokespeople for the Trump campaign and the Clinton campaign did not immediately respond to the requests for comment.
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