Is Donald Trump making you finally appreciate George W. Bush? | The Tylt

Bush came out strongly in support of the press when asked about President Trump's recent characterization of the media as the "enemy of the American people." Perhaps it's sad that a former president saying they believe in a free press seems so exciting—but it's definitely something people are appreciating about George W. Bush in retrospect.

But it may be too early to overlook the unbelievable disaster that was George Bush's Iraq war. With more than $2 trillion in costs, 4,424 American soldiers killed (plus nearly 32,000 wounded) and more than half a million Iraqis dead? Perhaps we shouldn't be so nostalgic. 

In his interview, Bush also pointedly said he supported welcoming immigrants to America. While Trump has repeatedly, and falsely, claimed he witnessed hundreds of Muslim Americans cheering the 9/11 terrorist attacks—and is still trying to institute a travel ban against Muslim-majority nations—Bush instead went to a mosque six days after the attacks and listened to the stories of American Muslims who were afraid to leave their homes for fear of violence:

"Those who feel like they can intimidate our fellow citizens to take out their anger don"t represent the best of America, they represent the worst of humankind and they should be ashamed of that kind of behavior," Bush said....He quoted from the Quran and fervently defended the Islam faith: "Islam is peace. These terrorists don"t represent peace, they represent evil and war."

Still, people hold Bush responsible for a lot of death and destruction. There's a reason he left office with the lowest approval rating in presidential history.

Unlike Trump, Bush never called Mexicans rapists. Bush actually made an attempt at immigration reform (which totally failed, but still). He did not threaten to ban Muslims or keep registries of them based on their religion. He released his tax returns. To our knowledge, he never sexually assaulted anyone. In Trump's America, these are qualities many people miss in a leader.

In terms of lives lost and damage caused? Bush's record is far worse than Trump's.

But the rise of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and anti-Semitic crimes in just the first six weeks since Trump was inaugurated has many people saying this could get a lot worse than the Bush years.

And with all his errors, George W. Bush was never accused of being controlled by the Kremlin.