George Bush, former president,
spoke to Hoda about his thoughts on
immigration and
the current state of the GOP.
Let's hear what he had to say.
>> It's a beautiful
country we have.
[LAUGH] >> And yet
it's not beautiful, when we can
damn call people names and
scare people about immigration.
It's an easy issue to frightened
some of the electorate.
And I'm trying to have
a different kind of voice.
>> Okay, if you were to describe
the Republican Party as you see it
today, how would you describe it?
>> I would describe it as
isolationist, protectionist, and
to a certain extent nativist.
>> Are you disappointed?
>> Well, it's
not exactly my vision.
>> So it's interesting because I
went back to watch some of his
speeches on immigration when he was
president.
Because I was sure that I was
going to find language that goes
along with the GOP narrative of we
got to shut everyone out, and we
need to be awful to asylum seekers.
But he was calling out nativists,
even when he was in office.
But he had some pretty awful
policies that impacted immigration
and immigrants.
Including by the way,
the Patriot Act, which allowed for
the United States to hold
immigrants or non citizens under
indefinite detention.
I mean, it really did away with
some of the legal protections that
undocumented immigrants, or
immigrants who aren't citizens have
like those legal protections
matter.
So, he's gotta take a good hard
look at what he
contributed to this broken system.
And I have a lot more on that but
Francesco, what are your thoughts?.
>> Yeah, I mean absolutely.
And it is amazing that George W
Bush is trying to be public now,
without saying first I'm sorry, and
yeah, you should probably indict me
for war crimes.
That's all I want to hear him say,
that's all he should say.
And his entire administration, like
you're saying sets us up for Trump.
The trillions of dollars of debt
that both wars created,
the amount of border militarization
under homeland security, which was
a department created because of 911
and the response to it, right?.
The calling people names is bad
yeah, remember when you call people
evil doers, and terrorists,
and you're either with us or
against us.
Homie, this was your legacy.
There's a reason that you've been
put out to pasture as he then says,
right, it's because
nobody likes you.
And the fact that Mainstream Media
somehow is the only one and so
called liberal media is trying to
resuscitate him,
is insanely infuriating.
But again, this is that dangerous
stuff look, Democrats sleepwalked
into into the Trump administration,
just the same as Republicans.
And you see that so perfectly with
the lack of self awareness, the
lack of understanding of his legacy
that George W Bush has right there.
He set it up,
Trump knocked it down.
You're looking at what you sowed,
and we all had to reap it.
>> Yeah, I mean,
it's such a great point.
And really the big difference
between someone like
George Bush and Donald Trump, and
what I would argue made George Bush
a lot more dangerous, is that, he
had this friendly likeable persona.
That I think helped cover
up the awful policies that he
implemented both through foreign
policy and through domestic policy.
I mean, hate crimes toward Muslims
in the United States,
shot up during his administration
as a result of some of the rhetoric
that they were using, terrorist
rhetoric, which really took off
during the Bush administration.
We invaded countries based on
faulty intel.
Arguing that invading Iraq made
sense because they had weapons of
mass destruction.
And of course, there were no
weapons of mass destruction and
the American people were sold
a complete lie.
And we remained in
the Middle East with these forever
wars till this day as a result.
These are things you're right,
he should apologize for and
at least reflect on, or
at least be forced to reflect on by
the very people who are now
interviewing him, right?
Because look,
>> Who's Hoda's co host Ana?
[CROSSTALK] >> Hoda's co host is
George W Bush's daughter.
Once again, the nepotism and
the revolving door between media
and politics.
And especially the Republican
Party's of course Hoda is not
going to ask him a hard question.
>> I know and that
you're right that is a problem.
I mean, [LAUGH], Governor Cuomo,
his brother having a primetime show
on CNN.
These are issues, right,
when the media is supposed to hold
people in positions of power
accountable, these conflicts of
interests matter.
And we're certainly seeing that in
the context of this interview.
But we do have one more clip from
the interview for you,
let's take a quick look at that.
>> Okay, this hypothetical
Republican is pro immigration,
pro a path to citizenship for
undocumented workers.
Pro DACA,
pro reasonable gun control,
pro education funding for
public school.
Does that person have a shot or
would that Republican have
a shot in 2024?
>> Sure, yeah, >> You think?
>> I think so, I think that it
depends upon the emphasis.
I think if the emphasis is
integrity and decency and trying to
work to get problem solved,
I think the person has shot, yeah.
>> It seems you've done, >> By
the way, I think pro immigration
in the right way to put it,
I think border enforcement with
a compassionate touch.
>> With a compassionate touch.
Look, the Republican base is what
it is, I'm not justifying it, I'm
not minimizing it, but he's wrong.
And I think there's a very real
reason why Republican voters seem
to love the pretty awful rhetoric
coming from the GOP right now, in
response to migrants at the border.
It's because all the GOP has been
focusing on for a while now,
is essentially demonizing people
over culture war issues, right?.
So immigration for
them is part of the culture war
meant to deflect from the fact that
they've failed in governing, they
failed in providing a good life for
the American people.
Inequality continues to be a huge
problem.
So in order to distract from all of
these societal issues ill that they
have taken a role in, they'll
go ahead and demonize others.
These asylum seekers, these
unaccompanied minors at the border,
these are the people that we need
to be scared of, worried about.
And so the Republican base has been
conditioned to feel honestly like
combative, angry,
fearful toward immigrants.
And so Bush is wrong,
Bush is wrong when he thinks,
look what happened to Marco Rubio.
He wanted to create a pathway to
citizenship.
He took still a right wing but a
softer approach toward immigration.
And during the Trump era, I mean,
his political ratings decreased
significantly because he wasn't at
least at first willing to go along
with their fear mongering narrative
about migrants, >> Yeah, I mean,
I just want to say that it is
surprising and like the tiniest,
slowest clap for George W Bush to
say the Republican Party is
currently nativist.
But once again,
he fails to understand the way
his entire presidency set this up.
And one specific way, and we saw
this bear out on January 6, which
he says in that interview made him
sick to his stomach, body, a lot of
the folks who stormed the Capitol
got radicalized in the US military.
Were radicalized under the Wars of
Iraq and Afghanistan,
and the incredible apparatus of
Islam of phobic fear mongering
that you created.
So that they've come back,
and not just imported all of their
weaponry back to the United States,
back to police forces,
back into communities.
But now they're suddenly afraid of
Muslims, and they see Sharia law in
the mirror behind them,
like it's Candyman or something.
And that is exactly the kind of
hatred and rhetoric that Bush's
administration fomented.
So it's again you're totally right.
That it reminds me of why bush
drove me crazy which was that, at
least Trump has the decency to be
a POS, does that make any sense?.
>> Yes. >> He is fully the POS that
he is.
>> Shows it. >> He is shown
unabashedly, right?
But Bush would always sort of we
are a force for good and you're,
no, no, no, no, why am I crazy?
And I the last thing I'll say is
that Republicans hate Bush too,
all right?.
There is a reason that the Marco
Rubio's that the Jeb Bush's did not
do better in 2016, which was that
Bush and the Bush administration
was a massive failure.
The Iraq war was a failure,
the war on terror was a failure.
And so instead of holding
Republicans nose in it, Democrats
just sort of run away from it.
They're not claiming that anti-war
that sort of pro-fair trade.
They're not claiming that mantle
that they should, they allow
a demagogue wannabe populace to do
it in the form of Trump.
And we want to Bernie Sanders over
here and he would have won.
Anyway, Ana, >> Yeah.
[LAUGH].
>> And there was one other part
of the interview I have to bring
it up.
He basically said regarding what's
currently happening with
unaccompanied minors.
He's I can't imagine what would
convince a parent to send their
children with these coyotes.
Well, I mean,
just you can't imagine it,
you just have to sit down and
actually think about it, right?.
And it's not only his policies that
played a role in essentially
creating an unlivable situation in
the very countries that people
are fleeing right now.
I mean, you got to take a look
at your father's legacy, right?
When he was the head of the CIA,
he engaged in all sorts of awful
policies in Latin America.
Supporting dictators, overthrowing
democratically elected leaders,
because they don't go along with
what us business interest were.
All of those things destabilized
these countries in Latin America,
and they continue to be
destabilized.
They continue to be rife with
violence, corruption, and people
are fleeing, looking for safety.
And in some cases, parents are so
desperate that they're willing to
put their children on that
incredibly dangerous journey to try
to get them to safety.
So there are explanations for what
we're experiencing at the border.
It would just require politicians
like George Bush to have a moment
of self reflection.
Or it would require journalists to
demand that they have a moment of
self reflection and
unfortunately in this case,
we didn't get any of that.
So are you going to buy his book?
>> Though Ana lastly just a coffee
but >> No.
>> Not even to laugh at.
>> No, I'm not spending money
on that garbage.
[LAUGH] >> But a book that I am
reading right now that you guys
should absolutely check out is it's
called Home Wreckers
by Aaron Glance.
Excellent book to kind of
understand all of the failures in
responding to the 2008 economic
collapse, and
why it is that we're seeing
inequality continue till this day.
It focuses on the housing market.
There's a very real reason why
you're unable to buy a house and
that I think that book
makes a good case.