Former President George W. Bush on Tuesday said his brother Jeb would be a great president if he decides to run in 2016.
“Jeb should run for president if he wants to. He would be a great president,” he said during an appearance on “The Tonight Show.”
The former president made similar comments in April, saying, “I hope he will run.”
{mosads}Earlier this year, Barbara Bush, their mother, advised against Jeb running for president. She said the country has more than four families, and it has seen enough Bushes.
On Tuesday, the former president jokingly said his mother’s words could be a reaction to his presidency.
“There are several ways you can interpret that,” he said. “Well, if you are a little uncertain about your standing in the family, you can say, ‘The last Bush we had might have been too much.’ ”
Bush has largely remained out of the spotlight since leaving the White House in 2009. He said he has not been more critical of President Obama because “I don’t think it is good for the country for a former president criticize his successor.”
With the botched rollout of the healthcare law, Obama’s approval rating have begun to mirror Bush’s at this time in his presidency.
Bush said he didn’t worry too much about polling during his presidency, maintaining “the only poll that really mattered was on Election Day.”
Bush, who left office with low approval ratings, used a common refrain Tuesday night: It will take time before history can accurately gauge many of his decisions.
“I did the best I could do,” he said. “I am also very comfortable with the fact that it is going to take a while for history to judge whether the decisions I made are consequential or not, and therefore I’m not too worried about it.”