Former president George H.W. Bush will break from his own party when he votes in the presidential election this November, opting for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton over rival Donald Trump, according to Kathleen Hartington Kennedy Townsend.
Politico says Townsend posted a photo on Facebook Monday in which she’s shaking hands with the 41st president, accompanied by the caption “The President told me he’s voting for Hillary!!”
Politico followed up with her after the Facebook post, and reported that she said she met with Bush in Maine, and that he indeed plans to vote for Clinton.
A statement issued to a number of media outlets earlier on Monday by Bush spokesman Jim McGrath said, “The vote President Bush will cast as a private citizen in some 50 days will be just that: a private vote cast in some 50 days. He is not commenting on the presidential race in the interim.”
Legions of conservatives reportedly do not plan to vote for Donald Trump, among them primary rival Ted Cruz, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney, right-wing broadcaster Glenn Beck, The Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol, Washington Post columnist George Will and former CIA and NSA director Michael Hayden.
Back in May, a spokesman for Bush’s son, 43rd President of the United States George W. Bush, said he “does not plan to participate in or comment on the presidential campaign,” making it four cycles worth of former Republican presidents who will not endorse Trump this year.