George H.W. Bush calls Trump ‘a blowhard’ in new book

Credit: Christian Petersen

Credit: Christian Petersen

It’s a breach of etiquette by a former president, but George H.W. Bush did not mince words when describing Donald Trump.

“He’s a blowhard,” the 41st president tells historian Mark Updegrove in the book “The Last Republicans,” which goes on sale Nov. 14.

Former President George W. Bush also rebuked Trump, CNN reported, saying that "This guy doesn't know what it means to be president."

Those stinging comments mark the first time the former presidents are speaking out about Trump in such stark terms, as part of a new book about the father and son by historian Mark Updegrove, titled “The Last Republicans.”

Both men went on the record to give Updegrove their candid assessments of Trump, as well as their thoughts on the 2016 presidential election, CNN reported.

The elder Bush’s comments about Trump were made in May 2016, CNN reported.

“I don't like him. I don't know much about him, but I know he's a blowhard,” said Bush, now 93. “And I'm not too excited about him being a leader.”

When Updegrove asked the former president what he thought Trump’s goals might be in running for president, Bush said Trump had “a certain ego.”

George W. Bush’s comments were slightly less inflammatory than his father’s, although he told Updegrove that while he thought Trump could unify the country, it would require “humility,” CNN reported.

“If you look at the Bush family, it makes perfect sense. Donald Trump is everything that the Bush family is not,” Updegrove told CNN. “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.”

CNN reached out to both former presidents' offices for further comments and they both confirmed that they had spoken with Updegrove on the record, but as a policy do not comment on books.

In the end, neither Bush voted for their party's nominee. George H.W. Bush confirmed that he voted for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. George W. Bush told Updegrove he left the top of the ballot blank.

"I voted 'None of the Above' for president, and Republican down ballot in 2016," he told CNN.

The White House released a statement Saturday about the Bush family comments, calling the war in Iraq “one of the greatest foreign policy mistakes in American history.”

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