George P. Bush defends support for Trump, calling him ‘center of the Republican Party’

Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush on Wednesday reasserted his support for Donald Trump as he seeks to galvanize the former president’s supporters in his bid for state attorney general.

“When you look at my policies, I’m all about ‘America First,’” Bush said in an interview on Fox News. “Trump is the center of the Republican Party. I’m my own man, I support him and we need to carry on that legacy and capture the lightning that he brought to the Republican Party so that we can help all of our fellow Republicans down ballot.”

Bush, a member of a political dynasty that includes two former presidents, is the only prominent member of his family to back Trump. His father, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), sparred aggressively with Trump in the 2016 Republican presidential primary, and the former president has repeatedly targeted members of the Bush family with his attacks. 

The younger Bush, however, has cast himself as an acolyte of Trump. He noted in his interview with Fox News on Wednesday that he was “one of the first statewide elected officials to come out and support” Trump during his 2016 White House bid.

Bush is taking on incumbent Attorney General Ken Paxton in the 2022 Republican primary, a race that is shaping up to be among Texas’s closest-watched statewide primaries.

Like Bush, Paxton has also cast himself as a steadfast Trump ally. He led a lawsuit last year challenging the presidential election results in four states as Trump sought to reverse his loss to President Biden. 

Since then, Paxton hasn’t shown any signs of backing down in his support for Trump. He spoke at the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6 ahead of a deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Trump’s supporters. And in February, Paxton joined Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla.