Former President of the United States George W. Bush (2001-2009) said in an interview broadcast this Sunday on CBS that he most regrets his mandate, that he has not been able to reform the country’s immigration system.
The ex-president, who is promoting his book “Out of Many, One: Portraits of American Immigrants,” which contains illustrations of his own oil portraits of immigrants, conducted the interview from his Texas ranch where he lives with his wife. former first lady Laura Bush.
Asked if his presidency’s biggest disappointment was that he had not implemented immigration reform, Bush replied in the affirmative, “I was campaigning for immigration reform, I made it very clear to voters that this was something I wanted to do,” he said. Republican President.
Still, he assured that he is currently “lobbying” conservatives to provide a path to citizenship for undocumented migrants if they are proven to have no criminal record and pay taxes in the United States.
“I don’t know if my own party is listening to me or not, that’s another question,” he reflected.
Despite support from the Democratic and Republican Parties, Bush failed to advance immigration reform during his presidency, and years later one of his successors, Donald Trump (2017-2021) won the election with anti-immigration rhetoric. the center of your campaign.
Bush acknowledged that one of the problems with the immigration debate is that it can cause a lot of unrest. “They’re coming to get you,” he said, referring to the speech Trump used to mobilize the Republican electorate.
“But,” he added, “this is a nation that’s willing to take in refugees, the victims, the ones who are afraid, that’s a great nation to me.”
While avoiding criticism of his successors, Bush pointed out that there is a big difference between him and Trump.
“I feel a responsibility to maintain the dignity of the position. I did it then and now. I think it’s unworthy to see my name in the press all the time. I think it’s basically a signal. that I want to be famous and get people to see me, ”said Bush.
The ex-president lives in retirement with his wife on their farm in the Prairie Chapel, south of Dallas, where he paints.
During the interview, he explained that he loved this hobby because he missed things.
“The presidency is a great learning experience and all of a sudden you are no longer president. By coincidence I read Winston Churchill’s essay ‘Painting as a pastime’, which got me thinking about painting,” he explained.
At that point he added, ‘I said to myself,’ if that big guy can paint, so can I ‘.
Bush also spoke of his friendship with the Obama marriage, particularly with former first lady Michelle Obama, with whom he played viral moments after the wife of former Democratic President Barack Obama (2009-2017) publicly hugged him. during the 2016 inauguration of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC.
Both played in a funny moment at the funeral of former Republican Senator John McCain, who died in 2018, when Bush gave the former first lady candy in a gesture captured by the cameras.
“Americans were so surprised that Michelle Obama and I could be friends. I think the problem is that Americans are so polarized in their thinking that they can’t imagine George W. Bush and Michelle Obama could be friends,” he said .