George W. Bush reveals he voted for Condoleezza Rice through a write-in in 2020 and insists he ‘regrets’ calling Republicans ‘nativists’
Former President George W. Bush said he wrote in the name of his former Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, instead of voting for fellow Republican President Donald Trump or Democratic candidate Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
Bush, who’s promoting a new book, ‘Out of Many, One,’ made the comments to People magazine, adding, ‘She knows it. But she told me she would refuse to accept the offer.’
The ex-president also cleaned up comments he made about the modern GOP after saying on the ‘Today’ show earlier this week that the Republican Party was ‘isolationist, protectionist and, to a certain extent, nativist.’
President George W. Bush told People magazine that he didn’t vote for fellow Republican President Donald Trump nor did he switch parties and vote for now President Joe Biden in the 2020 election
President George W. Bush said he voted for his former secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, by writing her name in. ‘She knows it. But she told me she would refuse to accept the offer,’ he told People
Former President George W. Bush is promoting his new book of paintings, which tell stories about American immigrants
‘Really what I should have said – there’s loud voices who are isolationists, protectionists and nativists, something, by the way, I talked about when I was president,’ he said.
‘My concerns [are] about those -isms,’ he said, an apparent reference to racism, sexism and other forms of prejudice. ‘But I painted too broad a brush … because by saying what I said, it excluded a lot of Republicans who believe we can fix the problem.’
Bush’s new book is a collection of paintings and stories about American immigrants. The former president’s aim is to tone down the rhetoric surrounding immigration.
On the policy side, Bush said one ‘fix’ is to make DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, permanent. This gives the so-called ‘Dreamers’ – immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children – a legal way to be in the U.S.
The current ‘Dreamers’ bill in Congress would give them a pathway to citizenship.
‘I put a DACA student in there because I wanted to just remind Americans that these DACA kids came over when they were … this kid came over when he’s 4 years old,’ Bush told People about his new book. ‘He has no home to go back to. And he’s a contributing member of our society, he’s [an] engineer and he’s smart and he’s capable.’
People magazine also asked Bush his thoughts on the U.S.-Mexico border wall.
Trump made wall construction a top priority.
Bush pointed out that Trump wasn’t the only president to add barriers between the two countries.
‘I built a lot of wall myself, as did Clinton, as did Obama, and the reason why is the American people expect our laws to be upheld,’ Bush said. ‘But I also believe there’s a compassionate way of doing it.’
‘The truth of the matter is: a wall won’t work unless there’s comprehensive reform, like work visas, asylum system fixed and border patrol agents focused on their job,’ he continued. ‘And so there needs to be an all-the-above approach to securing the border and we’ll see.’
Promoting the tome again, Bush added, ‘I think, hopefully once things settle down in Washington they’ll be able to focus on this issue and get something done.’
‘And maybe this book will help,’ he said.
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