On Saturday, the George W. Bush Presidential Center posted a message from the 43rd president. "This is a challenging and solemn time in the life of our nation and world," Bush began. With black-and-white photos and soft music, he urged America to show compassion and creativity in battling the coronavirus, thanked the medical professionals risking their own lives to treat patients, and reminded America that the country has overcome hard challenges before and that "empathy and simple kindness are essential, powerful tools of national recovery."
"Let us remember how small our differences are in the face of this shared threat," Bush said. "In the final analysis, we are not partisan combatants. We are human beings, equally vulnerable and equally wonderful in the sight of God. We rise or fall together. And we are determined to rise."
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the No. 3 House Republican, shared the video on Twitter and sent it to her Republican colleagues, highlighting Bush's final comments about unity and rising together, Politico reports. President Trump was less impressed.
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Trump followed that up with his own message: "Hopefully our Country will soon mend. We are all missing our wonderful rallies, and many other things!" And then, three hours after chiding Bush for not defending him during his impeachment trial, Trump dropped this tweet in the middle of his feed, for unexplained reasons.
That is odd language for Trump, or any president, but evidently it fits nicely in a different genre.
In the eternal, frequently relevant question from Queen: "Is this the real life, is this just fantasy?"
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