Bush nephew George P turns to Donald Trump for career boost

George P Bush is nephew of former president George W Bush, and son of Jeb Bush — whom Trump dubbed ‘low energy Jeb’.

George P Bush, left, and former US President Donald Trump. Pictures: Twitter/AFP

A fourth-generation member of the Bush dynasty is seeking the endorsement of Donald Trump as he prepares to run for senior elected office.

George P Bush, nephew of George W Bush, the former president, and son of Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, was the only prominent family member who openly endorsed Trump for president in 2016 and 2020.

Bush, 45, is planning to make a primary challenge against Ken Paxton for his role as attorney-general of Texas. Paxton, 58, is a Trump loyalist who tried to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory in court on behalf of Texas.

Bush, grandson of George HW Bush, president from 1989-1993, and great-grandson of Prescott Bush, who was a senator for Connecticut in the Fifties and Sixties, has held talks with Trump in the battle for his endorsement. “We talked about the importance of putting the right team on field because the Democrats are targeting our state,” Bush told The Dallas Morning News. “We talked about my race and the vision that I have for the state of Texas.”

Trump easily defeated Bush’s father in the 2016 contest for the Republican presidential nomination, damning him with the moniker “low energy Jeb”. Last month George W Bush called the party under Trump’s influence “isolationist, protectionist and, to a certain extent, nativist”.

Great to speak with President Trump to discuss the future of Texas and how we are keeping up the fight to put America first. I appreciate the words of encouragement and support. Big things coming soon! pic.twitter.com/U5cYFAFlCk

— George P. Bush (@georgepbush) May 24, 2021

Trump said that he would decide between the two Republican candidates for attorney-general soon. “I like them both very much,” Trump, 74, told CNN. “I’ll be making my endorsement and recommendation to the great people of Texas in the not-so-distant future.”

Trump’s endorsement carries significant weight among Republican voters and helped Susan Wright, a candidate for the House of Representatives, to win her primary battle when he backed her last month.

Bush is to announce his candidacy next Wednesday and sniping with Paxton has begun. Bush said he was considering running because of ethical concerns. Paxton, who has been in office since 2015, is under indictment on charges of securities fraud, which he denies, and was accused last year of abuse of office by seven former aides. “Texans need to take a deeper look at who we nominate in our party,” Bush said.

Paxton, meanwhile, told a Dallas conservative radio talk show last week that Bush wanted to use the attorney-general’s office as a stepping stone to run for the White House. “He’s kind of got this mentality that he’s going to be president some day and he’s got to get started,” Paxton said. He claimed that Bush had decided against challenging Greg Abbott, governor of Texas, or Dan Patrick, the lieutenant-governor, because they had too much campaigning cash at their disposal.

Bush is Texas land commissioner, an elected post that oversees the auction of mineral and fossil fuel mining rights. The attorney-general role is much more powerful and would give him a foothold in national politics.

Paxton will be hoping for Trump’s backing after he came to Washington and spoke to the crowd on January 6 before the storming of the Capitol. That evening he argued that those involved in the riot were not real Trump supporters but far-left infiltrators, a widely discredited theory.

The Times