Bush Calls Media ‘Indispensable To Democracy,’ Trump Calls Press The ‘Enemy’


“George W. Bush called the media “indispensable to democracy” compared to Donald Trump previously calling the press “the enemy of the American people.”

Former President of the United States George W. Bush said on Monday that the media is “indispensable to democracy,” which is a break from the position of his fellow Republican and current President of the United States, Donald Trump, who said that the press was “the enemy of the American people.”

Former President Bush told Matt Laur of NBC’s Today show that the country needs “the media to hold people like me to account.”

“I mean, power can be very addictive and it can be corrosive, and it’s important for the media to call to account people who abuse their power, whether it be here or elsewhere.”

Just over a month into his presidency, Donald Trump has shown no signs of letting up in his war against the media.

Trump has even banned certain media outlets from covering his events.

The President has mocked multiple media outlets, including The New York Times and CNN, saying that they distributed “fake news.”

Chief White House strategist Steve Bannon referred to the media as the administration’s “opposition party.”

Trump made remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, noting that he is not “only against the fake news media or press” but the industry as a whole which he believes has treated him unfairly.

“I want you all to know that we are fighting the fake news. It’s fake, phony, fake.”

“A few days ago, I called the fake news ‘the enemy of the people,’ and they are. They are the enemy of the people. Because they have no sources. They just make them up when there are none.”

The White House forced national security adviser Michael Flynn to resign just weeks into Donald Trump’s first term.

According to Politico, White House press secretary Sean Spicer forced members of his communications staff to hand over their personal and government-issued cell phones to prove that they were not the source of any press leaks.

George W. Bush recalled his own presidential terms, saying that he was often the target of media critique. Bush said it was important for the country to set a strong example for leaders like Putin. Trump has publicly praised the Russian president multiple times.

“One of the things I spent a lot of time doing was trying to convince a person like Vladimir Putin, for example, to accept the notion of an independent press. And it’s kind of hard to, you know, tell others to have an independent, free press when we’re not willing to have one ourselves.”

A representative for former President Bush said that on Election Day 2016 that he and his wife had voted for “None Of The Above President.”

Trump spent months criticizing Bush’s brother, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, saying he had “low energy.”

George W. Bush’s father, former President George H.W. Bush, hinted to an acquaintance in September that he intended to break from his Republican party and vote for Democrat Hillary Clinton.

The only member of the Bush family who publicly supported Donald Trump was surprisingly Jeb Bush’s son, Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush.

George W. Bush said that despite his lack of support for Trump, that he should be given a chance to act on his claim to want to bring the country together.

“I think you have to take the man for his word that he wants to unify the country, and we’ll see whether he’s able to do so.

“It’s hard to unify the country with the news media being so split up. When I was president, you know, you mattered a lot more because there was like three of you and now there’s all kinds of information being bombarded out and people can say things anonymously. It’s just a different world.”

[Featured Image by Pool/Getty Images]

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