Neither George HW nor George W Bush, the only two living former Republican presidents of the United States, will endorse Donald Trump.

In statements released to the Guardian on Wednesday evening, spokesmen for both former presidents said they would be sitting out the 2016 election. 

Freddy Ford, a spokesman for George W Bush, told the Guardian: “President George W Bush does not plan to participate in or comment on the presidential campaign.”

The statement by the 43rd president was echoed in one released by his father. 

Jim McGrath, a spokesman for George HW Bush, told the Guardian: “At age 91, President Bush is retired from politics. He naturally did a few things to help Jeb, but those were the ‘exceptions that proved the rule’.”

The non-endorsements come as Trump has become the presumptive nominee and many party figures have tried to come to terms with the fact that the demagogic reality television star will be their party’s standard-bearer in November.

The decision by both former presidents is particularly personal because of the unsuccessful candidacy of Jeb Bush. The former Florida governor, who is George HW’s son and George W’s brother, was repeatedly attacked during his campaign by Trump. The presumptive nominee tarred the two-term governor as “low-energy” and mocked him as “an embarrassment to his family”. 

Source ; MENA