Most of the "conspiracy theories" that former President George W. Bush said are putting the U.S. political system at risk are coming from the new media, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Friday.

Bush said in a speech in New York on Thursday that the nation's politics are " more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and outright fabrication." While many said Bush's remarks were a critique of the Trump administration, Sanders blamed the press.

"I think if anybody is pushing a lot of fabricated things right now, I think most of that would be coming from the news media," she said. "And we would certainly agree with that sentiment."

Bush's remarks were seen as the latest example of establishment Republicans attacking the Trump administration. Bush spoke on the same day that former President Barack Obama campaigned for Democrats in Virginia, where he warned that U.S. democracy is at stake in next month's off-cycle elections.