George W. Bush has painted “a really ugly picture” of Donald Trump “which he won’t show to anybody,” channeling his displeasure with the current president and his administration through his artwork rather than publicly criticizing him, according to a new book.
Bush is “painting these wounded veterans and he’s painting immigrants and he’s trying to talk about politics and express his feelings without stating them explicitly,” said Weisberg.
The book examines some of the figures who Weisberg argues enabled Trump’s return to power, including those who have failed to speak out against him.
“There’s sins of commission and sins of omission,” said Weisberg, who placed Bush’s reluctance to publicly criticize Trump in the latter category.
“Nobody wants ex-presidents to be full-time politicians and responding to everything,” said Weisberg, adding that Bush “is hiding behind, I think, a shibboleth which is that presidents have to completely remove themselves from ever commenting.”