Ex-Presidents Bush: America must reject hatred

Former President George H.W. Bush and his son, former President George W. Bush, issued a joint statement on Wednesday condemning the violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., saying America must reject “hatred in all forms.” 

The statement did not mention President Trump, but it pointedly stated that the nation must reject racial bigotry and anti-Semitism.

“America must always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism, and hatred in all forms,” the two former presidents said in the statement.

{mosads}”As we pray for Charlottesville, we are reminded of the fundamental truths recorded by that city’s most prominent citizen in the Declaration of Independence: we are all created and endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights,” the former presidents said, referring to Thomas Jefferson’s famous lines in the Declaration of Independence.

Jefferson founded the University of Virginia in Charlottesville in 1819.

“We know these truths to be everlasting because we have seen the decency and greatness of our country,” the Bush statement concluded. 

The statement follows President Obama’s earlier tweet in the aftermath of the violent white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, which became the most-liked tweet in Twitter’s history. 

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion…” pic.twitter.com/InZ58zkoAm

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 13, 2017