https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9XfeAqIuf4
George W. Bush delivered a speech today at a George W. Bush Institute event in New York and his lines repudiating white supremacy, bigotry, casual cruelty, nationalism, bullying and prejudice are being seen as direct attacks on Donald Trump and what he represents.
Watch this portion of the speech above.
Any one of these quotes in isolation could be dismissed as highflying rhetoric aimed at the general coarsening of our political culture — or the rise of forms of nationalism and extremism that clearly exist outside the Oval Office.
But almost each of these quotes have some connection to Trump. “Conspiracy theories and fabrications?” Check and check. “Nationalism and nativism?” Check. A “degraded discourse?” Big check. “Bigotry and white supremacy?” Trump was criticized for not calling them out strongly enough in Charlottesville. “Bullying?” Huge check. Not “living up to civic values?” Check, definitely.