George H.W. Bush says Trump is a 'blowhard'

Former President George H.W. Bush offers a bluntly critical take on President Trump, his fellow Republican, in a new book about both Presidents Bush by historian Mark Updegrove called The Last Republicans. The comments came to light in an advance review by The New York Times published Saturday,

"I don't like him," the elder Bush told Updegrove in May of 2016, when Trump was about to formally clinch the GOP nomination. "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."

Former President George W. Bush made similar remarks. He said Trump's claim to be his own adviser revealed he "doesn't know what it means to be president." Bush also decried Trump's lack of humility, which he described as "a certain heritage" and expectation in his own family.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"If you look at the Bush family, it makes perfect sense. Donald Trump is everything that the Bush family is not," Updegrove said in a CNN interview. "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."