George W. Bush just shredded Trump’s ‘white supremacy’ in a major televised speech
Former President George W. Bush appeared to call out President Donald Trump and his supporters — without naming names — and blame them for weakening public support for democracy during a public speech on Thursday.
Bush also blamed the bigotry, nativism and white supremacy that have been on the rise since Trump’s brand of jingoist populism galvanized hate groups for “deepened and sharpened partisan conflicts.”
“Bigotry or white supremacy in any form is blasphemy against the American creed,” Bush said.
“Bigotry seems emboldened. Our politics seem more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and outright fabrication,” Bush said, noting that American public discourse has been “degraded by casual cruelty.”
“There are some signs that the intensity of support for democracy itself has waned, especially among the young, who never experienced the galvanizing moral clarity of the Cold War or never focused on the ruin of entire nations by socialist central planning,” Bush stated.
The former U.S. president criticized those in charge of the American political system without mentioning any names, but implicated them in the stagnation and crippling effects of the economy.
“Our governing class has often been paralyzed in the face of obvious and pressing needs. The American dream of upward mobility seems out of reach for some who feel left behind in a changing economy,” Bush said.
Bush was explicit in his criticism of how many younger people have fallen into the trap of fascism, and no longer support the democratic project, and he was also highly critical of isolationism and those who reject globalization — all the while appearing to target the current administration’s policies and rhetoric without naming it outright.
“At times it can seem like the forces pulling us apart are stronger than the forces binding us together. Argument turns easily into animosity. Disagreement escalates into dehumanization. Too often we judge other groups by their worst examples while judging ourselves by our best intentions, forgetting the image of God we should see in each other. We’ve seen nationalism distorted into nativism. Forgotten the dynamism immigration has always brought to America. We see a fading confidence in the value of free markets and international trade, forgetting that conflict, instability and poverty follow in the wake of protectionism. We’ve seen the return of isolationist sentiments, forgetting that American security is directly threatened by the chaos and despair of distant places where threats such as terrorism, infectious disease, criminal gangs and drug trafficking tend to emerge.”
Bush also offered a conciliatory tone, hoping to salvage civil dialogue between opposing forces in a democracy by saying that “Argument turns too easily into animosity. Too often we judge other groups by their worst examples, while judging ourselves by our best intentions.”
Watch Bush’s full speech below.
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