Story with agency report
Former United States presidents, George H W Bush and his son, George W Bush, will not endorse Donald Trump’s candidacy for president, according to aides.
This marks the first time that the 91-year-old former president , who had endorsed Republicans in the past five elections, will decline interest in politics
The younger Bush’s spokesman, Freddy Ford, said he does “not plan to participate in or comment on” the 2016 presidential race, while the elder Bush’s spokesman, Jim McGrath, said he was “retired from politics”.
The snub by the two top Republicans and other conservatives underscores the struggle Mr Trump faces to unite the party.
Republican politicians are struggling to define their support, for Donald Trump, who is now the presumed nominees of the party in November 2016 presidential election.
Mr Trump’s remaining opponents dropped out earlier this week leaving him as the presumptive Republican nominee.
The father and son had previously campaigned this year for former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who exited the race in February.
Reports said they had each supported past Republican presidential nominees John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012. The lack of support for the presumptive Republican White House nominee from the party’s only two living former US presidents is seen as unusual.
According to reports, although neither former president has openly attacked Mr Trump or his policy proposals, George W Bush made a veiled criticism at a campaign event for his younger brother saying, “The strongest person usually isn’t the loudest one in the room”.
“I understand that Americans are angry and frustrated. But we do not need someone in the Oval Office who mirrors and inflames our anger and frustration,” George W Bush told the South Carolina audience.
Trump has prevailed as the presumptive party nominee, but it remains unclear how many Republicans will support him
Many Republican candidates for lower offices are concerned about running on the same ballot as Donald Trump, who has alienated minority voters through his rhetoric about building a wall with Mexico and banning US entry to Muslim travellers.
Many American choose to vote for either the Democrat or Republican Party, rather than weighing the individual candidates.
Republican representatives fear that voters who oppose Trump may eschew the Republican Party all together.
John McCain, who is running for his sixth term as senator for the state of Arizona, privately told donors that he will face a tough re-election campaign sharing a ballot with Trump.
“If Donald Trump is at the top of the ticket, here in Arizona, with over 30 percent of the vote being the Hispanic vote, no doubt that this may be the race of my life,” the former candidate said according to audio obtained by Politico on Thursday.
Hours after Mr Trump’s remaining rivals dropped out, the Democrat frontrunner Hillary Clinton released a campaign ad seeking to take advantage of the vitriolic language and insults that other Republicans have used to refer to Mr Trump.
In her tweet to share the video, Mrs Clinton wrote “Republicans agree: Donald Trump is reckless, dangerous, and divisive.”
