Photo: Laura Cavanaugh/FilmMagic; Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty
Former PresidentGeorge W. Bushappeared to take a jab at his Republican successor on Wednesday as he opened the A+E upfronts with some musings on American history.
“The presidency is more important than the one who occupies the office,” Bush reportedly said. “I understand a lot of people are concerned right now, but let me take you back to 1968.”
Bush — who was on hand to present an upcoming slate of History channel projects — then described a turbulent time in the country’s history involving protests and wars that made him question just how the U.S. would pull through, according to Deadline.
“People would come up to me and say, ‘Oh man, you had the worst presidency ever,’ ” he recalled. “I said, ‘Read about Lincoln.’ ”
From left: A+E Networks Group President Paul Buccieri, Robin Roberts and former President George W. Bush.Michael Loccisano/Getty
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Deadline reports that Bush also criticized the treatment of immigrants — another subtle strike at President Trump — and he made multiple references to reading books, something many have speculated Trump rarely, if ever, does.
(AsMichael Wolff wrotein hisdisputed bookFire and Fury, “[Trump] didn’t read. He didn’t really even skim. If it was print, it might as well not exist. Some believed that for all practical purposes he was no more than semi-literate.”)
Trump has focused much of his platform on cracking down on both legal and illegal immigration since taking office in 2017, implementing policies thatban people from some predominantly Muslim countries, threatening toend the constitutional right of birthright citizenship,separating children from their parentsillegally entering the U.S. from Mexico, andfighting to build a border wall, which resulted in a historic shutdown of the federal government.
He also previously fought to end the Obama-era program Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which allows young immigrants to stay in the country if they were first brought here illegally as children.
The Bush Center’simmigration policy recommendations, meanwhile, released in November, call for a long-sought political middle ground: Immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally should have a path to citizenship and Congress should “enhance the enforcement of immigration laws.”
Bush has been vocal about his feelings on Trump in the past,saying in a 2017 book, “This guy doesn’t know what it means to be president.”
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On Wednesday, Garth Brooks and Sylvester Stallone were among the other famous faces on hand at the A+E upfronts.
Stallone announced he’ll direct and executive produce a new drama series calledThe Tenderloinfor the History channel, while Brooks revealed he’ll be the focus of a four-part Biography series titledGarth: The Road I’m On.
“IF I was EVER going to do a documentary on my life and music, I wanted A+E to do it,” Brooks said in a statement. “They have interviewed all the people who would know what the true stories are so no matter how this turns out, I can’t say it isn’t the truth.”
source: people.com
