Former President George W. Bush is reflecting on one of his most viral moments with former First Lady Michelle Obama. The 79-year-old former Republican president recently had a conversation with his daughter, Jenna Bush Hager, who is a co-host on the \u201cToday\u201d show during \u201cHistory Talks,\u201d an event sponsored by the History Channel to celebrate the nation\u2019s 250th anniversary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Saturday, April 18, Bush Hager, 44, interviewed all four living former presidents in Philadelphia. The discussion revolved around their experiences in the White House and their messages for the country as it approaches its semiquincentennial, People magazine reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During her conversation with her father, which aired on Tuesday, April 21, on \u201cToday,\u201d the 43rd president reflected on his unexpected friendship with Obama. He shared a memorable moment from the late Senator John McCain\u2019s funeral in 2018, when a camera captured him passing what appeared to be a piece of candy to her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Continue reading next page…<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cI get a little antsy, as I\u2019m sure you know, and I was sitting next to Michelle. That\u2019s who I sit next to at funerals,\u201d Bush said. \u201cAnd I was kind of teasing her and stuff, and I slipped her an Altoid. Not as a joke, but I thought she might want one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd I got in the car afterwards, and you said, \u2018You\u2019re trending,\u2019\u201d he added to his daughter. \u201cI didn\u2019t know what trending meant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt turns out, the country is starved to see a white, center-right Republican and an African American center-left Democrat having fun and being able to converse, not as political figures but as citizens,\u201d Bush added, per People magazine. \u201cAnd I intend to continue to try to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a 2021 interview with CBS News Sunday Morning, Bush expressed that he was \u201cshocked\u201d by the public\u2019s reaction to the moment. \u201cThe American people were so surprised that Michelle Obama and I could be friends,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2019, Obama told Hager that she and Bush could set aside their political differences and acknowledge their shared values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe disagree on policy, but we don\u2019t disagree on humanity, we don\u2019t disagree about love and compassion,\u201d she said. \u201cI think that\u2019s true for all of us \u2014 it\u2019s just that we get lost in our fear of what\u2019s different.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the death of former President George H.W. Bush, who was George W. Bush\u2019s father, in late 2018, the former first lady canceled two scheduled appearances on her \u201cBecoming\u201d book tour to attend the funeral in Washington. It was at this event that Bush established a tradition of handing her another piece of candy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking to Today earlier that same year, Obama had said of Bush 43, \u201cHe is my partner in crime at every major thing where all the formers gather. So we\u2019re together all the time, and I love him to death.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although Bush referred to the object he gave Obama at McCain\u2019s funeral as an Altoid in his latest interview, Obama previously described it as an \u201cold cough drop.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the funny thing, because they were in the little White House box, and I was like, \u2018How long have you had these?\u2019 And he said, \u2018A long time, we got a lot of these!\u2019\u201d the former first lady told then-hosts Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie. Moments like those are \u201cwhat people are hungry for,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cParty doesn\u2019t separate us,\u201d she said. \u201cColor, gender \u2014 those kinds of things don\u2019t separate us. It\u2019s the message that we send.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite what the Obamas say now, Barack Obama criticized Bush\u2019s presidency relentlessly on the campaign trail in 2008, particularly blaming him for economic turmoil and foreign policy failures during his campaign speeches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obama claimed that the policies of Bush had led to significant problems for the American people, asserting that \u201cAmerica, we are better than these last eight years.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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