Trump rounds on Bush after ex-president makes video plea

George W. Bush urged Americans to put partisan divisions aside to fight coronavirus but Donald Trump wasn’t impressed.

President George W. Bush speaks during his presidency. Picture: AFP.

After the worst single day’s death toll from coronavirus Americans were urged to put partisan divisions aside in a rare presidential message on unity – not from President Trump though, but from George W Bush.

The most recent former Republican president posted a three-minute video on Twitter urging Americans to remember “how small our differences are in the face of this shared threat” and that “we rise and fall together”.

A Message from President George W. Bush@TheCalltoUnite pic.twitter.com/FIn9wuOPTF

— George W. Bush Presidential Center (@TheBushCenter) May 2, 2020

It came as officials said 2,909 people died with COVID-19 on Thursday, making it the highest loss in a 24-hour period – just as many states are implementing plans to reopen. Mr Trump, 73, acknowledged his predecessor’s call to the nation with a tweet rebuking Mr Bush for staying silent while the president was impeached in December and then prosecuted in the Senate. He was acquitted of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in February.

A Message from President George W. Bush@TheCalltoUnite pic.twitter.com/FIn9wuOPTF

— George W. Bush Presidential Center (@TheBushCenter) May 2, 2020

Mr Bush, 73, seldom makes public comments let alone an address aimed at the nation, and his video came after US coronavirus cases topped 1.1 million and deaths passed 68,000.

“In the final analysis, we are not partisan combatants. We are human beings, equally vulnerable and equally wonderful in the sight of God,” Mr Bush said. “We rise or fall together, and we are determined to rise.” Mr Bush invoked the terrorist attacks of September 2001 in his message, noting that the US had faced “times of testing before”.

He added: “Let’s remember that the suffering we experience as a nation does not fall evenly. In the days to come, it will be especially important to care in practical ways for the elderly, the ill and the unemployed.”

More than 30 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits since restrictions came into effect.

Mr Trump responded by citing Pete Hegseth, a Fox News presenter, asking why Mr Bush had not pushed for “putting partisanship aside” during the impeachment process.

“He was nowhere to be found in speaking up against the greatest Hoax in American history!” Mr Trump tweeted.

The president has not issued a similar appeal for an end to partisanship but has regularly tried to emphasise the positive throughout the crisis, saying that he sees his role as a “cheerleader” for the country.

He has been criticised for consistently overclaiming on the provision of equipment and testing capability, and for playing down the chances of a severe outbreak.

The partisan approach to the virus will be evident at the US Capitol this week when the Republican-controlled Senate returns to work while members of the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives stays away from Washington.

Republicans and Democrats are at loggerheads over whether funds for infrastructure spending and state bailouts are included in the next relief bill.

They are also embroiled in a row over how far to indemnify employers against legal claims from employees who catch coronavirus when called back to work.

With six months to go before the presidential election, Mr Trump yesterday (Sunday) looked forward to returning to his packed political gatherings. He tweeted: “Hopefully our Country will soon mend. We are all missing our wonderful rallies …!” He later wrote: ” … And then came a Plague … and the World was never to be the same again! But America rose from this death and destruction … and became greater than ever before!”

There have been protests by small groups in several Democrat-controlled states against continuing restrictions. In Michigan, armed men stormed into the state house last week.

Deborah Birx, a senior medical adviser on the White House coronavirus task force, yesterday (Sunday) criticised the lack of social distancing by protesters.

“We need to protect each other at the same time we’re voicing our discontent,” she told Fox News.

The Times