George W. Bush calls to congratulate Biden
WASHINGTON – Former President George W. Bush offered a congratulatory message to President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on Sunday, the day after Biden clinched his victory.
“I just talked to the President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden,” Bush, a Republican, said in a statement Sunday. “I extended my warm congratulations and thanked him for the patriotic message he delivered last night.”
Bush said he also called Harris to congratulate her on her historic election as vice president.
“Though we have political differences, I know Joe Biden to be a good man, who has won his opportunity to lead and unify our country,” Bush said. “The president-elect reiterated that while he ran as a Democrat, he will govern for all Americans. I offered him the same thing I offered Presidents Trump and Obama: my prayers for his success, and my pledge to help in any way I can.”
The only living former Republican president also congratulated President Donald Trump and his supporters “on a hard-fought campaign.”
“He earned the votes of more than 70 million Americans – an extraordinary political achievement,” Bush said. “They have spoken, and their voices will continue to be heard through elected Republicans at every level of government.
Bush said Trump “has the right to request recounts and pursue legal challenges, and any unresolved issues will be properly adjudicated. The American people can have confidence that this election was fundamentally fair, its integrity will be upheld, and its outcome is clear.”
“The challenges that face our country will demand the best of President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris – and the best of us all,” he concluded. “We must come together for the sake of our families and neighbors, and for our nation and its future.”
The 74-year-old former president has remained largely out of the public eye since he left office but has appeared at odds with Trump over the last four years.
In 2016, Bush revealed he and his wife did not cast a ballot for Trump nor his Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton. Bush has not said who he voted for in this year’s election but he did not offer public support of Trump.
Bush spokesman Freddy Ford told the Dallas Morning News that the former president is “retired from presidential politics.” Trump has repeatedly assailed Bush over his record, including the decision to go war in Iraq.
Bush’s brother, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, ran against Trump in an unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nominee in 2016.
The once-perceived front runner failed to break through in the GOP race, particularly after Trump began calling him “low-energy.”