George P. Bush says GOP can’t let ‘racist’ episodes slide

December 12, 2019

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Republican George P. Bush, the only member of the Bush dynasty still in public office, condemned Thursday recurring episodes of what he described as racist or hateful rhetoric within the Texas GOP, and ripped what he called false accusations fanned by his Hispanic heritage.

Bush, Texas’ land commissioner, first denounced a white GOP state legislator who suggested “Asian” challengers on the ballot in 2020 were motivated by race. He then joined others Saturday in calling for the resignation of a Republican county chairwoman near Houston who used a racial slur in a text message about a black party organizer.

But his latest rebuke was personal: in a tweet Wednesday, Bush questioned whether critics had falsely accused him of plotting to erect a statue of Santa Anna — the Mexican general whose troops killed Texas independence fighters at the Alamo in San Antonio in 1836 — because his mother, Columba Bush, was born in Mexico. He called the accusation “flat out racist.”

Bush is the grandson of former President George H.W. Bush, who died last year, and the son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who was a presidential candidate in 2016.