In an early morning tweet on Sunday, President Donald Trump slammed former President George W. Bush for urging Americans to unify amid the coronavirus pandemic. In his response, Trump complained that Bush didn’t support him as he faced an impeachment trial earlier this year over his dealings with Ukraine.
Bush issued a call to end partisanship in a three-minute video shared on Twitter on Saturday, telling Americans to remember “how small our differences are in the face of this shared threat.”
“In the final analysis, we are not partisan combatants, we are human beings, equally vulnerable and equally wonderful in the sight of god,” the former president said. “We rise or fall together, and we are determined to rise.”
Trump responded by ripping the former president for not supporting him during during the impeachment trial.
“He was nowhere to be found in speaking up against the greatest Hoax in American history,” Trump said.
In the video, Bush invoked the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in his message, noting that the U.S. has faced “times of testing before.”
“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,” he said.
Here’s Trump’s response:
.@PeteHegseth “Oh bye the way, I appreciate the message from former President Bush, but where was he during Impeachment calling for putting partisanship aside.” @foxandfriends He was nowhere to be found in speaking up against the greatest Hoax in American history!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2020
In the past week, Trump has been raging on Twitter as his approval numbers continue to plummet over his slow response to the outbreak. The president in February suggested the virus would suddenly “disappear” and later predicted that everyone who needed a test would have access to one. He’s repeatedly pushed back against concerns from governors about testing and medical equipment shortages.
Most recently, Trump left the governors to decide when to reopen the economy because he doesn’t want to take responsibility over the outbreak.
