Former First Lady Barbara Bush thinks it’s high time someone from outside America’s prominent political families got a shot at the White House.
Bush said in an interview with C-SPAN that she believes her son, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), is the “best qualified” person to run for president in 2016. But just because he’s qualified doesn’t mean she wants him to launch a bid.
“I hope he won’t, because I think he’ll get all my enemies, all his brother’s, all — and there are other families,” she said. “I refuse to accept that this great country isn’t raising other wonderful people.”
It’s not clear what enemies the former first lady was referring to. Jeb Bush’s brother, former President George W. Bush, has repeatedly said he’s not concerned about how history will judge his administration’s disputed decisions, from the Iraq War to the response to Hurricane Katrina.
The matriarch of the Bush family would clearly prefer that Jeb Bush, whose name is often floated as a potential 2016 contender, stay out of that kind of political spotlight. She told C-SPAN that the United States deserves a leader that comes from outside a political dynasty.
“I think this is a great American country, great country, and 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,” Bush said. “And I think that the Kennedys, Clintons, Bushes, there are just more families than that.”
Watch below, courtesy of C-SPAN:
