Bush Family, Republican Dynasty That Produced Two Presidents, Backs and Donates to a Democratic Candidate

[Financial News]  

Members of the Bush family, which produced two U.S. presidents—the “father president” and the “son president”—from the Republican Party, have backed Democratic candidates and made donations in this midterm election.
With defeat looming, the Republican Party is now more likely to face serious internal strife as well.
According to foreign media outlets including Fox News and the BBC on the 21st (local time), Barbara Bush, 44, the eldest daughter of former President George W. Bush, declared her support for Democrat James Talarico, who is running for the Senate in Texas.
Neil Bush, the former president’s younger brother, also said he supports the Democratic Party.
The former president’s father was George H. W. Bush, who served as the 41st U.S. president.
Ken Paxton, the Republican Senate candidate in Texas, won the nomination by defeating Neil Bush’s niece or nephew in the primary.
With Democrats having failed to win even a single Senate seat in Texas since 1988, the Bush family’s support for Democrats could deal a major blow to the Republican Party, whose poll numbers are declining.
Polls currently show Talarico and Paxton locked in a tight race, making it increasingly likely that the Bush family’s support could have a substantial impact.
Neil Bush cited his antipathy toward President Donald Trump as the reason he opposes Paxton. He said he could not support Paxton because Trump had refused to accept that he lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden.
In a post on Facebook on the 20th, he said he had already voted for Talarico in early voting. Neil Bush said, “There were two main motivations,” citing “concerns about Paxton’s record and a genuine admiration for the character and principles I saw in Talarico.”
It was also confirmed that Barbara Bush, the former president’s eldest daughter, donated $2,500 (about 3.31 million won) to Talarico’s campaign.
Political analysts have focused on the fact that, although the amount is small compared with donations from other major contributors, Barbara did not go out of her way to conceal her donation to a Democratic candidate.
Andrew Kates, a Texas campaign finance expert, told Houston Public Media that Barbara donated to a political action committee (PAC), where all funding flows are disclosed, instead of using a channel that would have allowed her to contribute anonymously.
Fox News analyzed the Bush family’s effort to turn Texas into Democratic territory, pointing to the poor relationship between the former president and President Trump as the reason behind it.
According to Fox News, Trump mocked Bush’s mother and siblings during the 2016 presidential campaign.

[email protected] Song Kyung-jae Reporter