On Monday, Pierce Bush, the grandson of former President George H.W. Bush and cousin of current Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, announced his campaign for Congressional District 22—a seat currently held by retiring Congressman Pete Olson.
Jumping into a field of what is nearly 20 declared candidates, the heir to perhaps the most pervasive political dynasty Republican politics has ever seen said that it was time for “new leaders.”
“It’s time for new leaders to stand for conservatism that empowers all Americans, placing individuals above government and ensuring we all have the freedom to achieve success in life,” Pierce Bush says in his campaign launch video.
But what is Pierce Bush’s definition of “conservatism that empowers all Americans?” Apparently, it involves unrestricted third-world immigration.
First reported by The Daily Caller, Pierce Bush attended and participated in an anti-Donald Trump protest shortly after the president’s inauguration in which he joined with Democrats to oppose the Trump administration’s halt on immigration.
“In the shadow of the Statue of Liberty, my sister, Lauren, and I marched near Battery Park NYC (where people arrived after leaving Ellis Island) with thousands of people today against the immigration ban. No ban. No fear. Refugees are welcome here. #nationofimmigrants #diversityisourstrength,” Bush wrote in a Jan. 29, 2017, post that included three photos from a protest against President Donald Trump’s travel ban.
The publication later noted that Bush’s campaign did not respond to email inquiries on the subject.
The first Bush elected to public office was Prescott Sheldon Bush, who served as the treasurer of the first nationwide campaign for Planned Parenthood in 1947 under the organization’s founder, Margaret Sanger. Prescott Sheldon Bush was later elected to the U.S. Senate in Connecticut. He is Pierce Bush’s great-grandfather.
His son, George Herbert Walker Bush, was elected to the U.S. Congress in Texas and served as the director of the CIA, ambassador to China, and President Ronald Reagan’s vice president. He was elected as the nation’s 41st president in 1988 under a famous pledge to not raise taxes—that he later violated. Running for re-election, he lost to Bill Clinton in 1992 and famously voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016. He is Pierce Bush’s grandfather.
George H.W. Bush’s son Neil Bush, who has never held political office but has managed to find himself involved in a bushel of scandals, is Pierce Bush’s father.
That said, Pierce Bush says he’s not running for Congress for his family.
“This is not about my family. This is about the families of the 22nd Congressional District,” Pierce Bush told The Associated Press.
Bush notably resides in the 2nd Congressional District, not the 22nd Congressional District that he is running to represent.
Unlike actual monarchical dynasties, however, voters will ultimately make their decision on whether Bush should represent Republicans on the ballot in March 2020.
