Donald Trump believes George W. Bush’s decision not to vote for him is ‘sad’

Former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, visit schoolchildren on Oct. 19. 

George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, did not vote for any presidential candidate on Tuesday — despite claims to the contrary made by Rush Limbaugh on his radio show earlier in the day. The revelation came via the former president’s spokesperson, Freddy Ford, who told CNN that the pair chose to leave that section of their ballots blank and vote only for down-ballot Republican candidates.

The news prompted Limbaugh to issue a correction at the top of his website. “We’ve been told by President George W. Bush’s office that President Bush did not vote for Hillary Clinton as was reported on today’s show. He voted two weeks ago and did not vote for her,” the statement reads.

The couple’s nonvote is perhaps unsurprising, considering Donald Trump’s extremely critical stance of the former president’s actions regarding the war in Iraq — not to mention the way the candidate battled with Bush’s brother Jeb in the primaries.

And Trump, never one to hold back when he feels he’s been wronged, naturally had something to say about it. During an appearance on the “Howie Carr Show” on WRKO early Tuesday evening, he addressed the Bushes’ decision not to vote for him. “I think it’s sad. I think it’s sad, you know, when I see George Bush do that,” he said. “And look, I was very critical of him for getting us into Iraq, which was obviously a horrible decision, and getting out the way Obama got us out was a horrible way to get out too — the combination. I don’t think it has any impact, frankly. I think it has no impact.”

This is the first political statement the former president and first lady have made since Jeb Bush dropped out of the race, though some other members of the Bush clan have already expressed their beliefs. Unconfirmed reports have said that former President George H.W. Bush would be supporting Clinton this election. And Barbara Bush was critical of Trump’s comments regarding a certain Fox News commentator. “I don’t know how women can vote for someone who said what he said about Megyn Kelly,” she said. “It’s terrible. And we knew what he meant too.”