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2 former presidents break with tradition to denounce Trump

Posted October 21, 2017 7:00 am

By LAURIE KELLMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) - Former presidents are shedding a traditional reluctance to criticize their successors, unleashing pointed attacks on the Trump White House and the commander in chief - but without mentioning him by name.

Remarks on the same day by former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama raise the prospect that more dissenters will follow in defiance of President Donald Trump and his policies.

In separate speeches, Bush and Obama both rejected cruelty and bigotry.

Bush drew his biggest applause when he said, "The only way to pass along civic values is to first live up to them."

Obama used a similar approach to denounce Trump's brand of politics.

Presidential spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Friday the White House does not believe the former presidents' remarks were aimed at Trump personally.

Former U.S. President George W. Bush speaks at a forum sponsored by the George W. Bush Institute in New York, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) The Associated Press

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