Thursday in New York City at the “The Spirit of Liberty: At Home, In the World” forum, former President George W. Bush said that bigotry seemed “emboldened” in the United States.

Bush said, “Our governing class has often been paralyzed in the face of obvious and pressing needs. The American dream of upward mobility seems out of reach for some who feel left behind in a changing economy. Discontent deepened and sharpened partisan conflicts. Bigotry seems emboldened. Our politics seem more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and outright fabrication.”

He continued, “We have seen our discourse degraded by casual cruelty.”

He added, “We have seen nationalism distorted into nativism.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN