PresidentDonald Trumpand First LadyMelania Trumpplan to attendGeorge H.W. Bush‘s funeral — and according to a presidential historian who knew Bush, the former president included Trump in order to not “stiff a sitting president.”
“For Bush 41, Trump is the president, and he does not want to stiff a sitting president, so in his own way, it is magnanimous that he is having Melania and Donald Trump come,” Brinkley says of Bush, whodied at age 94 on Friday.
Brinkley believes that Bush’s wishes may affect Trump, 72, personally. “In its own way, it may normalize the estrangement Trump feels from the so-called establishment that Bush personified,” he adds.
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Brinkley suggested that Bush had mixed feelings about the Trump era. “I think that [Bush] had such respect for the institution of the presidency that Trump annoyed him because he was trying to divide the country at times,” Brinkley tells PEOPLE.
“He is a fine husband, father, and friend — and a man of the highest integrity. He will make a superb Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States,” George W. Bush previously said.
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Brinkley mentionedBarbara Bush‘s funeral, which Mrs. Trumpattendedbut Trump did not. The former first ladydied at age 92 in April.
“But the cruder aspects of Donald Trump — themean Twittersand thename calling— [Bush] found that gauche, and that is why Barbara Bush did not want Donald Trump at herfuneral,” he says.
The White Housesaid in a statement in Aprilthat Trump was skipping Mrs. Bush’s funeral “to avoid disruptions due to added security, and out of respect for the Bush family and friends attending the service,” the Associated Press reported at the time.
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Bush’s state funeralwill be heldat the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday at 11 a.m. ET. In a presidential proclamation, Trump declared that Wednesday would be dedicated to Bush’s memory and that flags should be lowered to half-staff in his honor for 30 days.
In a statement, the Trumps wrote about Bush’s legacy,including Bush’s signature phrase about volunteerism, “a thousand points of light,” that Trumphad ridiculed at a rally in July.
“Through his essential authenticity, disarming wit, and unwavering commitment to faith, family, and country, President Bush inspired generations of his fellow Americans to public service — to be, in his words, ‘a thousand points of light’ illuminating the greatness, hope, and opportunity of America to the world,” the statement read.
source: people.com
