HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Former President George W. Bush says a televised insult by Kanye West represented the lowest point of his time in the Oval Office.
Bush makes the revelation in his upcoming book, Decision Points, which hits bookstores on Nov. 9. He discusses the book and the West incident during an upcoming Matt Lauer Reports, an NBC primetime special airing on Nov. 8 at 8 p.m. ET.
In the interview, Lauer asks Bush if he remembers when West uttered "George Bush doesn't care about black people" during a telethon to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina.
"I didn't appreciate it then. I don't appreciate it now," Bush says of the rapper's comments. "It's one thing to say, 'I don't appreciate the way he's handled his business.' It's another thing to say, 'This man's a racist.' I resent it, it's not true, and it was one of the most disgusting moments in my Presidency."
Lauer then reads an excerpt from the book, in which Bush writes, "Five years later I can barely write those words without feeling disgust. I faced a lot of criticism as President. I didn't like hearing people claim that I lied about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction or cut taxes to benefit the rich. But the suggestion that I was racist because of the response to Katrina represented an all time low."
"Yeah. I still feel that way as you read those words," Bush responds. "I felt 'em when I heard 'em, felt 'em when I wrote 'em and I felt 'em when I'm listening to 'em."
"I wonder if some people are going to read that, now that you've written it, and they might give you some heat for that," asks Lauer. "And the reason is this –"
"Don't care," insists Bush.
"Well, here's the reason," continues Lauer. "You're not saying that the worst moment in your presidency was watching the misery in Louisiana. You're saying it was when someone insulted you because of that."
"No – that – and I also make it clear that the misery in Louisiana affected me deeply as well," replies Bush. "There’s a lot of tough moments in the book. And it was a disgusting moment, pure and simple."
Photo credit: Peter Kramer / NBC
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