COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – Former President George W. Bush was making his first direct foray into the 2016 campaign Monday in South Carolina, hoping a state that put him on the path to the White House 16 years ago can do the same for his brother, Jeb.
The younger Bush’s decision to put the former president front-and-center underscores his tenuous position in a race he was once expected to dominate. Bush is seeking to trade on his family’s popularity in South Carolina, even if that means reviving his brother’s complicated legacy and reminding voters eager to break with the political establishment that he’d be the third Bush to serve as president.
“The Bush family is beloved,” South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said Monday. Graham joined the former president and wife, Laura, at an American Legion Post in Columbia, where they greeted the crowd before traveling to Charleston for an evening rally.
Presidents George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush each won two Republican primaries in South Carolina, and their family retains deep social and political ties here. But in the turbulent 2016 race, the state appears to be Donald Trump’s to lose.
On Monday, the billionaire seemed intent on overshadowing Bush’s return to presidential politics. Trump scheduled events in Charleston, where the Bush family would be campaigning, and leveled multiple attacks against the brothers on Twitter.