WASHINGTON — Former Republican President George W. Bush said in an interview that aired Sunday that there was a “50-50” chance his younger brother, Jeb, would run for president in 2016.
“He’s wrestling with the decision,” the former president said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “I think it’s 50-50. I’d give it a toss-up.”
Bush, the 43rd president, was promoting his new book about his father, George H.W. Bush, the 41st president, when he broached the prospect of a Bush as the 45th president. Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, has increasingly signaled he may be interested in the job.
“I hope he runs,” Bush said during the talk at his presidential library and museum in Dallas. He said he would campaign for his brother-or stay behind the scenes, if that is preferred. “I would be one of his strongest backers,” Bush said.