Bush Defends Free Press Against Trump Attacks: 'Power Can Be Very Addictive'

Noted painter and former POTUS George W. Bush has some words for Trump.

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

George W. Bush, a guy some of us previously considered arguably the shittiest president in recent memory, hit up the Today show Monday to unload some truth about Donald Trump, former Apprentice host and current President of the United States. Though Bush was really in town to talk about his collection of paintings entitled "Portraits of Courage," Matt Lauer got him to spew some wisdom about Trump's war on the press and the supreme reality check involved with becoming POTUS.

"I consider the media to be indispensable to democracy," Bush said when Lauer asked if he ever felt the press was "the enemy" when receiving criticism during his two terms in the White House. "We need an independent media to hold people like me to account. I mean, power can be very addictive. It can be corrosive. It's important for the media to call to account people who abuse their power, whether it be here or elsewhere."

Bush pointed to his own efforts in trying to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to embrace the idea of an independent press, an effort that would now seem hypocritical given the anti-press comments routinely voiced by Trump. "It's kinda hard to, you know, tell others to have an independent free press when we're not willing to have one [ourselves]," Bush explained. Speaking of Russia, Bush is all in for taking a closer look at alleged ties to the Trump team. "I think we all need answers," Bush said. 

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

Bush was also asked about Trump's widely opposed travel ban, revealing he's in favor of an immigration policy that's "welcoming and upholds the law." Peep Lauer's full interview with Bush above.

Latest in Life