Not only will President Trump be in attendance at the funeral of George H.W. Bush but the 41st POTUS who passed away over the weekend actually wanted him there.
Regardless of how one feels about Bush and his family, they didn’t take the low road like the spiteful John McCain did when a public feud with Trump turned into a bitter and childish last wish about banning the leader of the free world from his funeral.
It was a disgusting lack of dignity made all the worse when McCain’s memorial service became an anti-Trump political rally where the honoring the departed and his often controversial life took a back seat to an orgy of establishment politicians and McCain’s own daughter taking endless cheap shots at the current president.
But the Bush family appears willing to put politics aside despite the rough and tumble debates where Trump humiliated Jeb! and prevented a third presidency for the Bush dynasty.
Via Politico, “Despite bitter family rivalry, Bush wanted Trump at his funeral”:
When President Donald Trump didn’t attend Barbara Bush’s funeral earlier this year, it stoked chatter about a rivalry between the two powerful families who have a history of sniping at each other.
The former first lady criticized Trump during the 2016 campaign for saying “terrible things” about women and the military, and was long displeased with Trump’s insults toward her husband and sons.
But many of the family’s confidants said Saturday former President George H.W. Bush wished to put that all aside when it came to Trump attending his funeral.
“If anybody at anytime knew anything about the 41st president of the United States, they would completely and totally understand that he would welcome the current occupant 100 percent,” said an aide in the office of the former president. “This is the way the country says goodbye to presidents.”
Not only was Trump invited, but according to a report, the Bush family has promised not to allow the ceremony to degenerate into the grotesque, hate-drenched spectacle that McCain’s funeral did.
Via The Hill, “Bush family promised Trump that funeral would avoid criticizing him: report“:
The Bush family promised President Trump that speeches and eulogies at the late George H.W. Bush’s funeral would avoid criticizing him, sources familiar with the funeral preparations told The Washington Post.
The family reportedly assured Trump that the elder Bush’s funeral would not include the anti-Trump messaging on display at the August funeral for the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).
“The comparisons are presenting themselves; we are not heightening them,” a source familiar with funeral preparations told the Post.
Another source close to the preparations told the Post that Bush “wouldn’t want anyone there to feel uncomfortable, including the incumbent president.”
“It’s interesting, though, that praising the Bushes or McCain risks sounding critical of Trump even when Trump’s in no way part of the thinking,” the source told the newspaper.
Trump is scheduled to attend the funeral at the Washington National Cathedral on Wednesday. The family extended an invitation to him over the summer, the Post said.
The president is not expected to speak at the funeral.
