George W. Bush Calls Kanye’s Katrina Comment “One Of The Most Disgusting Moments In My Presidency”

MEDIA ITE ^ | 11/03/2010 | Steve Krakauer

[WebFocus]

Taking a break from election results, NBC News has released a few excerpts from Matt Lauer’s wide-ranging interview with former Pres. George W. Bush as he promotes his new book.

He talks about 9/11, about Donald Rumsfeld and a lot more. But he also talks about Kanye West.

Yes, that Kanye West. While he’ll probably love the shout-out, his comments after Hurricane Katrina during a live telethon had a profound negative effect on Pres. Bush. Here’s the exchange:

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PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Yes, I do. He called me a racist.

MATT LAUER: Well, what he said, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: That’s — “he’s a racist.” And I didn’t appreciate it then. I don’t appreciate it now. It’s one thing to say, “I don’t appreciate the way he’s handled his business.” It’s another thing to say, “This man’s a racist.” I resent it, it’s not true, and it was one of the most disgusting moments in my Presidency.

Wow. We’ll have more on this as the week goes on. The interview airs Monday at 8pmET on NBC as part of an hour-long special, and Pres. Bush will be live on Today next Wednesday.

The image is from the interview.

[atc23]

I wouldn’t be a very good president. Had it been me, Kanye West would have died in something “gang related”

[WebFocus]

Here’s the video of Kanye West’s, “Bush Hates Black People” comment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIUzLpO1kxI

[Vendome]

Actually, the everyday and in particular, the last two years of your presidency were pretty disgusting for the rest of us.

Check Please!

[floozy22]

One of my major disappointments in W has been his willingness to absorb the punches from the left and not strike back. One can do so a few times and declare you are on the higher ground, but one can only take so much.

Bush took far more than he deserved.

Rove the RINO had a lot to do with GWB taking the heat and not responding...for eight years! You can make the argument that this approach damaged the GOP enough to result in the 2006 Dem takeover of the House and Senate, and clearly set the table for the Obama victory in 2008.

Rove is not a conservative - he's just another political operative with an agenda.

[GOP Poet]

KW is a disgusting moment. period. nuff said.

[lonestar]

So, why are we disgusted with Zero when he fights back?

It just isn't "Presidential" to acknowledge some comments by proven idiots...especially rap "artists."

[hampdenkid]

Why in the hell is W granting this historical interview to the commie Lauer instead of someone at Fox? Geesh, I hate it when people cater to the enemy.

[muawiyah]

Rove continued to play a probabilities game long after it had any meaning. During wartime you need to have the President hovering over the nation (not just his dinner plate) prepared to smack down all enemies, domestic and foreign.

Although Br'r West might not have seemed to have been all that much of an enemy, he would have been easily slapped down ~ crushed even ~ and that'd been the last of that. Instead, the giggle-slobber crowd among the Democrats used that as an opening for their sort of corrupt politics.

[Jeff Winston]

Kanye West showed what a boor he is when he impolitely interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech.

And WHY did he interrupt Taylor Swift's acceptance speech?

I think it was obvious to most of us. West IS what he falsely accused Bush of being.

[Jedidah]

An effective administration shouldn’t lower the Presidency into the gutter by reacting to two-bit blowhards.

It would have been a mistake to spend valuable time and resources exchanging spitballs with the likes of West.

Bush had a job to do, and ignoring the ignorant was the best way to go about it. Now that he’s out of office, he can say what he wants.

[mcshot]

Those attacks on him were attacks on his supporters and for our sake he was obligated, IMHO, to respond and fight back with the truth. I know I felt forgotten, trampled and misrepresented and I like the man and thought I knew his soul.

[Twinkie]

Kon-Yay WHO?!! - I’m tired of these “apologies” that are about half an inch deep where the “public figgers” knew whenever they were saying or doing what they were doing that they were going to “apologize”.

[Jedidah]

1) Widest audience.

2) Bush is not a petty man and doesn’t keep an enemies list.

3) He’ll be making the rounds soon. If you limit yourself to Fox, you will likely catch him there.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

... were pretty disgusting for the rest of us.

You don't speak for the rest of us! Certainly not me! You are buying eight years of media spin which blasted Bush daily. The media are as big an enemy of America as the Democrats and you bought it.

[Dan Nunn]

An effective administration shouldn’t lower the Presidency into the gutter by reacting to two-bit blowhards.

Exactly. Calling Kanye a jackass (one of the few things I agree with Obama on) may be true, but it is not presidential.

[CharlesWayneCT]

I’m trying to figure out how stupid Matt Lauer has to be to try to argue that saying “he hates black people” is somehow different than calling him a racist.

What does Matt Lauer think the term “racist” means?

[WebFocus]

RE: What does Matt Lauer think the term “racist” means?

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When morons like these are paid millions of dollars a year, you begin to understand why most businesses are fleeing the country.

[SC_Pete]

Rove held him back. W’s instincts were good. He should have trusted them more.

[reagan_fanatic]

Kanye exposed his own racism when he said that. It said much more about him than it did about Bush.