George W. Bush is out with an uplifting video message about the coronavirus crisis. It’s the first time we’ve heard the former president react to these unprecedented times. The 43rd president said:
“Empathy and simple kindness are essential powerful tools of national recovery… In the final analysis, we are not partisan combatants we are human beings, equally vulnerable, and equally wonderful in the sight of God. We rise or fall together and we are determined to rise.”
Mr. Bush’s message was part of a series of videos aired online as part of a 24-hour live-streamed project, “The Call to Unite,” that also featured Oprah Winfrey, Tim Shriver, Julia Roberts, Martin Luther King III, Sean Combs, Quincy Jones, Naomi Judd, Andrew Yang and others.
But there is at least one person who didn’t get the “unite” part of Bush’s message. Donald Trump instead found a way to make the call for compassion about himself. He reacted by complaining that Bush didn’t support him during his impeachment trial.
There are others arguing that Bush isn’t the ideal person to talk about suffering during a trying time, but even his biggest critics aren’t criticizing the content of the message. Bush’s compassionate comments are something we haven’t heard from the current occupant of the White House.