On Wednesday morning, former first lady Barbara Bush changed her tune on son Jeb Bush running for president in 2016, saying, “In regards to the 2016 presidential race, he [Jeb] is the best qualified person in the country, there’s no question.”
In an earlier, January interview with C-SPAN, Barbara Bush dismissed the idea of continuing the Bush dynasty in the White House, saying “If we can’t find more than two or three families to run for high office, that’s silly, because there are great governors and great eligible people to run. I think that the Kennedys, Clintons, Bushes — there are just more families than that.”
But on Wednesday, she sang a new song: “I say in this country, which is such a great country, there are more than three families,” Barbara Bush told “Fox & Friends.” “Then I read that ‘The Bully Pulpit’ by Doris Kearns Goodwin. She points out that in 1700, there were only three families. So maybe it’s OK. It just seems to me ridiculous in a country this size that we didn’t have other families. I mean we’ve got great governors… other people. I just don’t understand it. And maybe Jeb’s given all he should give, because he’s worked awfully hard for a long time. But he is the best qualified person in the country, there’s no question about it.” (RELATED: Jeb Bush’s tea party problem )
The 88-year-old wife of former President George H.W. Bush is known for shooting straight, but has promised to go a little easier on her son. “She promised me she wouldn’t keep saying this,” former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said after her last interview against a potential presidential run. “But she is 89 years old and if you have elderly parents or grandparents, you know they speak their mind. There is not much stopping between thinking and speaking. I love her.”
Jeb Bush has said he will make a decision on whether he is running later this year.
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