Former U.S. president George W. Bush on Thursday denounced bigotry in Trump-era American politics, warning that the rise of "nativism," isolationism and conspiracy theories have clouded the nation's true identity. The comments, delivered at a New York City conference hosted by the George W. Bush Institute, amounted to an indirect critique from a former Republican president who has remained largely silent during President Donald Trump's unlikely rise to power. The 43rd president did not name Trump on Thursday, but he attacked some of the principles that define the 45th president's political brand. "We've seen nationalism distorted into nativism, forgotten the dynamism that immigration has always brought to America," Bush said. But during the Bush event, a current Trump administration official also broke with Trump's dismissive tone on Russian interference.

Source: CBC News October 19, 2017 21:56 UTC