Donald Trump Jr. has canceled a fundraiser he was scheduled to hold for Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush after multiple members of the Bush family levied harsh criticism at President Donald Trump’s administration for its enforcement of immigration laws.
The barrage began earlier this week when former First Lady Laura Bush (the wife of former president and Texas governor George W. Bush and George P. Bush’s aunt) wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post in which she called Trump’s handling of illegal immigration “immoral,” a narrative pushed by national Democrats and, in Texas, retiring Texas House Speaker Joe Straus.
Straus himself worked in the White House during George P. Bush’s grandfather, George H.W. Bush’s one-term presidency.
After Laura’s remarks, a source told the political news site Axios that George P. Bush was told the attacks must stop or the Trump clan would not be able to continue publicly supporting him.
That warning was not heeded.
Today, George P. Bush’s father, former Florida governor and failed presidential candidate Jeb Bush, doubled down on Laura Bush’s criticism, calling Trump “heartless” in a post on Twitter yesterday.
This tweet was reportedly the final straw for Trump Jr., and the decision to cancel the event was made shortly after. The fundraiser was scheduled to be held in New York City on June 25 and its cancellation cannot be understated.
Why?
Because Bush is the last “survivor” of a political dynasty that long controlled much of the Republican Party, but one that voters and activists have large scale rejected over the past decade.
While his family’s vast resources and political infrastructure ensure he doesn’t need help from anyone from a fundraising perspective, George P. Bush does require constant infusions of access and legitimacy in order to maintain his ability to make a weak claim conservative credentials and keep his political ambitions alive.
After narrowly avoiding a runoff in the Republican primary and being booed at the Texas GOP convention for his mishandling of the Alamo, the Texas Land Commissioner is finding himself relegated to a subsidiary status among statewide officials at a time he is seeking to grow his political brand in the hopes of securing higher political office.
