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George W. Bush Calls Kanye West Remark “Disgusting”

Truth rating: 10

8:00 pm, November 2nd, 2010

(GettyImages.com)

(GettyImages.com)

George W. Bush calls Kanye West‘s infamous comment about him after Hurricane Katrina one of the “most disgusting” moments in his presidency.

In 2005, West told a hurricane relief telethon audience, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”

Bush writes about the incident in his new memoir, and discusses it with Matt Lauer as part of an interview set to air next Monday.

Here’s a partial transcript:

***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***

MATT LAUER:

You remember what he said?

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.

MATT LAUER:

This from the book. “Five years later I can barely write those words without feeling disgust.” You go on. “I faced a lot of criticism as President. I didn’t like hearing people claim that I lied about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction or cut taxes to benefit the rich. But the suggestion that I was racist because of the response to Katrina represented an all time low.”

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH:

Yeah. I still feel that way as you read those words. I felt ‘em when I heard ‘em, felt ‘em when I wrote ‘em and I felt ‘em when I’m listening to ‘em.

MATT LAUER:

You say you told Laura at the time it was the worst moment of your Presidency?

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH:

Yes. My record was strong I felt when it came to race relations and giving people a chance. And—it was a disgusting moment.

***   ***   ***   ***   ***   ***

For those who don’t remember West’s comments, here they are:

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  • BeReal

    I do respect George Bush as an ex president. One thing he has to remember is that you can tell that Kanye was under stress or duress, (just listen to him) but however, I do not condone what Kanye said, or other things he has said and done. George Bush cannot be so hard on other people because he has said a careless remark about a certain celeb that was very hurtful when he was in office… at least the celeb reacted that way. I think that he owes that celeb an apology for saying something that sounded not too kosher at the time, and today has been proven that what he said had no merit. Even though, I have not seen the video of George Bush’s interview yet, I feel that it would be nice if he forgives and forgets because he is far from being perfect… at least when he was president. I have a question for George Bush… If it bothered you that much, why didn’t you sit down with him and confront him in a reasonable decent way, just have a talk with him? It could have been after things had calmed down. George Bush definitely was not so popular with celebs back then. Kanye wasn’t the only one. Kanye seems to be the type to speak his mind without thinking before he speaks, which isn’t always kosher. I found George Bush to be the same way.

  • MissZee

    George Bush has to realize something…there’s always going to be one or two people who are going to say negative things about him and he needs to let it go…

  • pirates98

    I’m really tired of the race card being used. 99% of white people aren’t racist and they care about other races…why? because we’re all the same race, the human race. Racism will not stop in this country until others stop throwing the race card and start taking responsibility. Why there was problems with Katrina, I don’t know…but an investigation was done and things are in place now to make sure it never happens again. I’m sure Obama will have the issue…oh wait, I think he did with the oil spill…but I didn’t hear any racism cries. Seriously folks….let’s get over it. Bush wasn’t my favorite president but racist? NO!!!!!

  • BeReal

    I have a relative in Georgia who says all kinds of racist remarks are said about Obama just about every day. She feels for his life. Also remember when he was “booed” when he pitched the baseball for the beginning of the season. I was in an office of people who said some mean things about him. Racism is something that has been around for a long time and will not go away because people’s hearts can be desperately wicked.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Donna-Gourlie/782080547 Donna Gourlie

    First I want to start by saying how refreshing it is to read comments from people with good sense. Most comments I read on other sites people and just down right mean and rude. All I have to say about this is Bush shouldn’t let this guy get to him. Kanya has shown time and time again that he should just not say anything, it’s better that way…

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Luna-Petunia/100000789652822 Luna Petunia

    I believe that with all the CRAP being said to BUSH, this was just a TOTAL surprise, especially since Kanye, the moron, was supposed to be raising funds for Katrina, not issuing political statements. That FUNDRAISER, was a whole 5 DAYS after the HURRICANE. NOT MUCH COULD BE DONE in some areas before this. I still hear how long it took Bush to get down there. He actually surveyed the area in a few days, but if you read some sites, it took him WEEKS. Just like NYC on 9/11. I remember it clearly, Guiliani and the Secret Service, not really sure of who was responsible and if there was still danger, said it was better to wait a few days, until Friday. History has been rewritten and now calls George Bush a ‘chicken’ for not coming up until Friday. Bunch of Bull. With Katrina, the Mayor of the City or the County calls upon the Governor for help. The Governor then calls upon the Federal Government. Somehow history has again jumped the 1st 2 steps. I was in my doctor’s office in July of 2005 reading an actually CURRENT copy of Time Magazine. (I don’t remember if it was June, July or Aug. 2005). One of the lead stories? Would the Levees of New Orleans hold if a Stage 5 Hurricane hit the City? How Prophatic. I read the article and it basically said NO! , these levees would probably breakdown if a stage 3 hurricane had a direct hit. Now, living on the Eastcoast, getting a major hurricane once every decade or so, SINCE MOST END UP IN THE CARRIBEAN/GULF OF MEXICO-I sat there thinking-are they NUTS IN NEW ORLEANS? IN LOUISIANA? There are Hurricans all the time in the Gulf, only a MATTER OF TIME, why weren’t they getting the army core of engineers (cited in the article) out there and getting funding to build NEW ONES, since these were ancient? So, Time magazine did an article, okay a month or two before KATRINA. They could not have been the only ones going-hey Mayor Nagin, Governor Blanco, those levees, holding back the water of New Orleans, you know THE CITY THAT IS ABOUT 5-6 FEET BELOW SEA LEVEL IN PLACES? DOESN’T IT WORRY YOU? Or, since these levees are in poor areas and you KNOW FEMA WILL COME, SO WHAT? Sorry for the ranting, but when I hear stuff about Katrina, and I KNOW, a lot of people KNEW those levees were not going to hold, ESPECIALLY THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW ORLEANS AND LOUISIANA- they are the ones that should be held RESPONSIBLE FIRST- they are there, it is their city

  • MissZee

    i don’t mean to be disrespectful, but in my opinion, 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina are 2 different topics and shouldn’t even be compared…

  • CrazyCelebJustice

    @misszee, he was comparing response times not incidents.
    One thing I do recall about Katrina is people CHOOSING not to leave. Then seeing all those EMPTY school buses sitting. How did it become Bushs responsibility and not the local officials? The officials in LA seemed to be coated in teflon because none of the mistakes stuck to them.
    They should have sent those buses out to get folks out of the area. They also should have taken the lead on handling the situation until FEMA took over. Instead they stood around looking for someone else to do something, for someone else to blame for their lack of inaction. For the government to do something.
    Its no wonder the government feels the need to run our lives.
    That Kayne chose that moment to bash a sitting President on television was absolutely disgraceful. If he had an issue with Bush, he should have taken it up personally, not on a national platform. Not while trying to raise money for the victims of Katrina.
    But how like Kanye to take advantage of any situation and make it about him. Just sick.
    I worked with hundreds of Katrina families after they evacuated. Watched as they falsified insurance documents, all the while unable to do a thing but shake my head in disgust.
    I understand Bushs feelings on what Kanye said. He had never been accused of being a racist by anyone before. But those words spoken by a “rapper,” convinced people who only receive their world news from celebrities and think that these people speak the truth.

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