- Former President George W. Bush said the riot in the Capitol made him sick to his stomach.
- Bush issued a statement shortly after the riot and said this week he was “still upset” by it.
- He has stopped blaming Trump, but that is a damning assessment of the former president.
- See more stories on Insider’s business page.
Former President George W. Bush said the riot in the Capitol left him sick to his stomach, and he described supporters of President Donald Trump as the hostile forces.
In an interview with Evan Smith, Texas Tribune, Bush described how to look at how the January 6 attack “really” upset him, both then and now.
“I was sick to my stomach … to see our country’s Capitol being stormed by hostile forces,” he said.
“And it really bothered me to the point that I issued a statement, and I’m still upset when I think about it. It undermines the rule of law, the ability to put yourself out in a public square in peaceful ways. It was an expression that was not peaceful. “
Bush has maintained a relatively low political profile since leaving office, and is known for starting painting. But after the attack on the Capitol, he issued a statement saying he was “upset” about the behavior of some political leaders – an apparent reference to Trump. He also compared the tactics of the rioters to those of a ‘banana republic’.
Earlier this month, Bush joined other former presidents to promote the COVID-19 vaccine in a TV ad that specifically excluded Trump.
In his Texas Tribune interview, parts of which were later broadcast by CNN, he gave a blunt no to whether he thinks the election was stolen from Trump.
George W. Bush speaks to the Texas Tribune in an interview segment aired on CNN.
Texas Tribune / SXSW / CNN
After the election, Trump and many Republicans continued an allegation of widespread electoral fraud that, despite being beaten back in the courts, angered the former president’s followers.
But Bush said he was “optimistic” about democracy, and that the current “anger in the system” could eventually work a way out of the system. ‘
“The history of the United States has shown that these populist movements begin to fritter over time,” he said.