Bush blasts Santa Anna statue talk as ‘racist’

More than 180 years after the fall of the Alamo, one key Texas elected official suddenly finds himself angrily fighting false rumors that he wants to erect a statue of Mexican dictator Santa Anna.

Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush took to social media on Wednesday to slam Santa Anna as a murderous dictator that he would never consider honoring in the redevelopment of Alamo Plaza, as some of his critics have accused him of wanting do.

“The idea that I would EVER place a statue of Santa Anna at the Alamo is patently false,” Bush wrote on his Facebook account. “Enough is enough. This is an outright lie, and is quite frankly, flatout racist.”

Bush questioned if he’s being targeted because of his family heritage.

“One must ask themselves, why am I being accused of honoring the murderous dictator Santa An

na?” Bush wrote. “Is it because my mother (now a naturalized citizen) is from Mexico? I was born in Houston, my wife is from San Angelo, and my boys were born — you guessed it — here in Texas.”

Bush, the grandson of former President George H.W. Bush, was responding to social media gossip fanned by a group called Save the Alamo that said Bush, as leader of the Texas General Land Office, wants a memorial honoring the Mexican Army. Rick Range on the Save the Alamo group’s Facebook page argued that Bush is trying to “desecrate the Alamo.”

Range and Bush have a history.

Range, from Plano, unsuccessfully challenged Bush in the 2018 Republican primary election, running against plans to redevelop Alamo Plaza that are now moving forward. He is part of a group that vehemently opposes the relocation of a 1930s Cenotaph in Alamo Plaza that honors fallen defenders.

Range didn’t respond Thursday to a request for comment.

Bush has faced years of criticism from some over his office’s handling of the Alamo, one of the state’s iconic landmarks. As land commissioner, the Republican has been at the helm of a $450 million planned makeover of the plaza, which starts with the relocation of the Cenotaph to convert the southern part of the plaza into shady, expanded pedestrian space.

In 2011, the Alamo was placed in the stewardship of the Texas General Land Office. Bush was elected to his first term as Texas land commissioner in 2014 and won re-election in 2018.