George W. Bush: Jeb would be ‘a damn good president’

Former President George W. Bush doesn’t know if his younger brother Jeb Bush can win the White House in 2016, but he’s confident the former Florida governor would make a good president. 

Politico reported that the elder Bush commented on the Republican’s presidential chances during a speech Wednesday, amid reflecting on his own White House bids.

{mosads}“My two girls had no desire to see me run for office. Their response was, ‘You’re not as good as you think you are; you’re going to lose.’ And when that didn’t’ work, ‘You’re going to ruin our life,'” Bush reportedly said.

“So I said to Jeb, ‘Hang in there; you can do the job. Will you win? I hope so but I don’t know. But if he does he’d be a damn good president I’ll tell you that,” Bush, 68, added, according to Politico.

Jeb Bush, 62, whose father George H.W. Bush was also president, announced in December he was actively exploring a presidential bid and has been focused more recently on fundraising. 

He is expected to join a likely extremely crowded Republican field of candidates vying for a chance to face off with presumed Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton next year.

George W. Bush has remained mostly out of the spotlight in recent years, and especially in recent months amid his brother’s likely presidential bid, though last month was slated to attend a fundraiser for Jeb in Dallas. 

“It’s an easy line to say, ‘Haven’t we had enough Bushes?’ After all, even my mother said, ‘Yes,’” George Bush said Wednesday at the annual Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society conference in Chicago, according to Politico.

“That’s why you won’t see me out there, and he doesn’t need to defend me, and he’s totally different from me.”