It did not take long after the death of Former President George H.W. Bush, who died as the longest-lived President in American history, for the media to begin using his death to attack President Trump or even the late former President himself. During Saturday’s edition of Today, NBC’s Peter Alexander made sure to take shots at President Trump as he read aloud a tweet from the President expressing his condolences.
Alexander reported on President Trump’s response to the death of Former President George H.W. Bush from outside the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Alexander began: “despite the deep resentments between these two families, including the former President, lifelong Republican George H.W. Bush’s refusal to endorse Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign after repeated attacks on the former President’s son, Jeb Bush, today a very gracious statement from President Trump.”
After reading the President’s tweet describing the late former President as a “wonderful man,” Alexander proceeded to read aloud an official White House statement from the President and First Lady. Alexander made sure to contrast President Trump’s praise for President Bush’s “thousand points of light” initiative in the statement with his “attack” on the slogan earlier this year at a rally in Montana: “President Trump was not always so gracious about Bush’s hope for a kinder, gentler nation. It was just five months ago that...he attacked George H.W. Bush and those words, saying ‘what the hell is that?,’ criticizing that slogan versus his own slogan ‘Make America Great Again.’”
Alexander closed his report by mentioning that President Trump did not attend the funeral of Former First Lady Barbara Bush earlier this year, and wondering whether President Trump will eulogize the former President in accordance with tradition. Alexander received the answer to his question later in the day, in the form of a Newsweek article titled “Donald Trump Will Attend George H.W. Bush’s Funeral.”
While it should not come across as a surprise that the media used the death of Former President George H.W. Bush as an excuse to go after President Trump, the media’s criticism of the late former President so soon after his death comes across as even more distasteful. A New York Times article obsessed over a widely discredited story about the “out-of-touch” President’s bewilderment at the sight of a supermarket price scanner. CNN and MSNBC smeared the late President for appealing to “racial animus” by running the controversial Willie Horton ad.
The media could learn a lot from George H.W. Bush. Even though media reports indicated Bush may have supported Hillary Clinton and opposed President Trump, he still sent out a tweet congratulating the President on his win in the 2016 Presidential election. In contrast, the media will never, ever suspend their animus towards President Trump, conservatives, and Republicans.
A full transcript of Peter Alexander’s report on Saturday’s edition of Today is below. Click "expand" to read more.
Today
12/01/18
08:04 AM
PETER ALEXANDER: Hey, Harry, Sheinelle, good morning to you. Despite the deep resentments between these two families, including the Former President, lifelong Republican George H.W. Bush’s refusal to endorse Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign after repeated attacks on the former President’s son, Jeb Bush, today a very gracious statement from President Trump; just a matter of hours ago, posting it on Twitter. He wrote the following, “President George W. Bush led a long, successful and beautiful life. Whenever I was with him, I saw his absolute joy for life and true pride in his family. His accomplishments were great from beginning to end. He was a truly wonderful man and will be missed by all.” The two men really didn’t have much of a personal relationship. You’ll remember George H.W. Bush, he promoted volunteerism through a mission that he called “Points of Light.” “A thousand points of light” was the saying and the President noted that in the comments that the White House posted from President Trump and the First Lady earlier today, where President Trump said “through his essential authenticity, disarming wit and unwavering commitment to faith, family and country, President Bush inspired generations of his fellow Americans to public service…to be, in his words, ‘a thousand points of light,’ illuminating the greatness, hope and opportunity of America to the world. But President Trump was not always so gracious about Bush’s hope for a kindler, gentler nation. It was just five months ago during a political rally in Montana that he attacked George H.W. Bush and those words saying, “what the hell is that?,” criticizing that slogan versus his own slogan, “Make America Great Again.” President Bush was quoted in a book just a year ago speaking of Donald Trump saying that “I didn’t know him. I don’t know him. But I know he’s a blow hard.” He says, “I don’t like him” in those remarks. There really was sort of a deep dislike between these two in the wake of the 2016 election. President Trump, of course, did not attend the funeral services celebrating the life of Barbara Bush. Instead, it was the First Lady, Melania Trump, who attended in his place. But it will be an interesting week…it’s traditional that the President eulogizes a past President when their life is celebrated. Remains to be seen what will happen this week as George H.W. Bush is lying in state in Washington and then celebrated at the National Cathedral.
