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Bush expressed disdain towards today’s GOP and called it “isolationist, protectionist, and to a certain extent, nativist,” according to The Western Journal.
“It’s not exactly my vision, but I’m just an old guy they put out to pasture. Just a simple painter.”
Hoda Kotb painted a picture of a Republican candidate for president in 2024 for Bush to imagine.
As Kotb painted this mental image in George Bush’s mind he described the hypothetical candidate as being “pro-immigration, pro-a path to citizenship for undocumented workers, pro-DACA, pro-reasonable gun control, pro-education funding for public schools.”
Kotb followed up his description with the question, “Would that Republican have a shot in 2024?”
“Sure, yeah, it depends upon the emphasis.”
“I think if the emphasis is integrity and decency and trying to work to get the problem solved, I think the person has a shot,” Bush stated.
“By the way, I think pro-immigration isn’t the right way to put it.”
“I think border enforcement with a compassionate touch is how I would put it.”
Watch @hodakotb’s full interview with former President George W. Bush on immigration, his friendship with former first lady Michelle Obama, the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol, and his new book, “Out of Many, One: Portraits of America’s Immigrants.” pic.twitter.com/DiktIhhKTo
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) April 20, 2021
From The Western Journal:
The former president also addressed the temptation to criticize his predecessors.
“Yeah, I guess I have been, sure,” he said. “[But] if I did, Michelle Obama might not be my friend.”
Bush added that people’s fascination with his friendship with the former first lady “really points out how bitter we’ve become.”
Bush appeared on “Today” to discuss his new book, “Out of Many, One: Portraits of America’s Immigrants.”
— Advertisement — In the book, he features portraits of various American immigrants and says he hopes to inspire a more “respectful tone” for immigrants on Capitol Hill, according to The Hill.
“Please put aside all the harsh rhetoric about immigration,” he said, addressing Congress.
“Please put aside trying to score political points on either side.”
He told CBS’ Norah O’Donnell that the immigration debate “can create a lot of fear.”
“A nation that is willing to accept the refugee or the harmed or the frightened, to me is a great nation,” he said. “And we are a great nation.”
