Former President George H.W. Bush said in a room of roughly 40 people Monday that he would vote for Hillary Clinton in November, according to sources close to Bush -- an extraordinary rebuke of his own party's nominee.
Representatives of the Bush family are declining to publicly acknowledge the former president's decision. But sources close to Bush tell CNN that he shared his plans with board members of the bipartisan Points of Light Foundation during what he believed was a private gathering Monday in Kennebunkport, Maine.
Bush did not make a formal announcement during the meeting, and it's not clear everyone in the room heard him, although multiple sources did.
His embrace of Clinton represents a dramatic new chapter in the complicated three-decade-old relationship between the two most prominent families in American politics.
The former Republican president's decision to vote for a Democratic nominee is a stunning political move -- one that comes just 49 days from the election, and less than a week before Clinton and Donald Trump square off in their first debate.
This confirms the scoop last night from a Kennedy:
Former President George H.W. Bush is bucking his party's presidential nominee and plans to vote for Hillary Clinton in November, according to a member of another famous political family, the Kennedys.
Bush, 92, had intended to stay silent on the White House race between Clinton and Donald Trump, a sign in and of itself of his distaste for the GOP nominee. But his preference for the wife of his own successor, President Bill Clinton, nonetheless became known to a wider audience thanks to Kathleen Hartington Kennedy Townsend, the former Maryland lieutenant governor and daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy.
On Monday, Townsend posted a picture on her Facebook page shaking hands next to the former president and this caption: "The President told me he’s voting for Hillary!!”
Well there you have it: Republican President George H.W. Bush is voting for the wife of the Democrat who defeated him 24 years ago. Just take a moment to absorb this truly extraordinary development in American politics.
A couple of questions remain. Will he come out with an official statement or make a campaign appearance for Clinton now that the cat's out of the bag? And will other members of the Bush family eventually join him to take a stand for their country? Barbara? Laura? Jeb? W?! Whatever the case, this is just more evidence that Donald Trump represents the death of the GOP as we know it.
Strange days indeed. Stay tuned.
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Originally posted at HillaryHQ.com