George W. Bush Sitting Out 2016 Presidential Campaign With No Plans To Endorse GOP Nominee

George W. Bush is sitting out the 2016 presidential campaign and has no plans to endorse the GOP nominee. Donald Trump is presumed to be this year’s GOP presidential nominee. However, George W. Bush, 69, along with his father, George H.W. Bush, 91, have no plans to comment on or participate in the general election coming up in November, according to the Texas Tribune on Wednesday.

Freddy Ford, the personal aide to George W. Bush, made a statement confirming that the former 43rd President of the United States plans to stay out of all things related to the presidential campaign process. Ford issued the statement after Donald Trump became the Republican nominee on Tuesday evening with a “decisive” win in Indiana’s primary election, taking all of Indiana’s 57 delegates. That same night, Trump’s only real competition for the GOP nominee, Ted Cruz, announced his decision to drop out of the race after losing seven primary elections in a row.

Former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush Stay Clear of WH Race https://t.co/AtOnkNnp0A via @nbcnews

— jan (@freespeak3) May 5, 2016

With John Kasich’s announcement on Wednesday that he’s also suspending his 2016 presidential campaign for the Republican nominee, Trump suddenly had no rivals left and went from Republican front-runner to Republican presidential nominee. Trump believes that Cruz and Kasich dropping out of the race finally brings some unity to the Republican party. However, according to the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, a majority of the Republican establishment still does not back Donald Trump.

GOP elders think that Trump’s following by Republican party members will happen gradually, minus at least George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush, who recently confirmed otherwise. The two Bush’s have no plans to ever support Trump as the GOP presidential nominee even though the former 41st President of the United States, George H.W. Bush, has supported every Republican nominee for the last five presidential elections. Both “Bush 41” and “Bush 43” campaigned for former Florida Governor Jeb Bush early on in the 2016 presidential race. Jeb, 63, younger brother of George W. Bush and second-born son to George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush, dropped out of the Republican presidential race in February.

George W Bush and his father George H W Bush will not endorse Donald Trump, spokesmen say https://t.co/ll1WaHwENt pic.twitter.com/hihL3RSWPf

— Sky News (@SkyNews) May 5, 2016

The Texas Tribune report says that neither George H.W. Bush nor George W. Bush have ever directly offered up an opinion on Trump as a GOP presidential candidate, but George W. Bush indirectly critiqued Trump at a campaign event for Jeb in February, saying that “the strongest person usually isn’t the loudest one in the room.” NPR shared that entire quote as a series of six memorable quotes from “Bush 41” when he campaigned for his brother, Jeb.

“Strength is not empty rhetoric. It is not bluster. It is not theatrics. Real strength, strength of purpose, comes from integrity and character. And, in my experience, the strongest person usually isn’t the loudest one in the room.”

One can only assume that George W. Bush was referencing Trump’s consistent angry, loud, and belligerent behavior that the 69-year-old American businessman and TV personality has become known for during the 2016 presidential campaign. But a report by the Business Insider back in July 2015 says that’s exactly what fueled Trump’s rising public popularity. According to economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, Trump is “exactly the kind of person the Republican base consists of and identifies with.”

“It’s clear that the very things that Upper West Side New Yorkers find detestable about him are exactly what endear him to the Republican base, which is basically people who see in him everything — even the big red face and the yelling — that makes him their kind of guy.”

Krugman went on to say that the conventional Republican establishment has lost control of the primary process and has lost touch with voters. According to a report by the Atlantic, a majority of Trump supporters are angry alongside Trump and have lost trust in the Republican party. They think they’ve lost their political voice and want a change. They further think that Trump with his loud mouth will be their voice and finally “make America great again.” But, even though Trump may have managed to win over a majority of the GOP voting public, he’ll more than likely never win over George W. Bush, who’s sitting this election out.