KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine (AP) – Former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush are responding to racially charged violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, saying “America must always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism and hatred in all forms.”
The statement from Kennebunkport, Maine, on Thursday came a day after President Donald Trump said there were “very fine people, on both sides,” of clashes that erupted during a gathering of white supremacists and white nationalists in Charlottesville.
The statement didn’t mention Trump, a fellow Republican.
The nation’s 41st and 43rd presidents borrowed words from the Declaration of Independence. The document, written by Virginian Thomas Jefferson, says all are “created equal” and endowed “with certain unalienable rights.”
The former presidents said they “know these truths to be everlasting because we have seen the decency and greatness of our country.”
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