Obama and Bush decry deep US divisions without naming Trump

Fri, Oct 20th 2017, 01:38 PM

Mr Obama urged Americans to reject the politics of "division" and "fear", while Mr Bush criticised "bullying and prejudice" in public life.

They were speaking separately. Neither mentioned President Trump by name.

Mr Trump, who has been critical of his two predecessors, is yet to comment.

Ex-presidents traditionally shy away from commenting publicly on their successors, and Mr Obama said on leaving office he would extend that courtesy for a time to Mr Trump, as George W Bush had to him.

He has broken his silence since to issue statements on Mr Trump's efforts to dismantle Obamacare, as well as his controversial "Muslim ban" and decision to abandon the Paris climate accord.

Speaking at a Democratic campaign event in Newark, New Jersey, Mr Obama said Americans should "send a message to the world that we are rejecting a politics of division, we are rejecting a politics of fear".

He added: "What we can't have is the same old politics of division that we have seen so many times before that dates back centuries.

"Some of the politics we see now, we thought we put that to bed. That's folks looking 50 years back. It's the 21st Century, not the 19th Century. Come on!"

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