Bush went on to describe his efforts, while in office, to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to support a free press.

“It's kind of hard to, you know, tell others to have an independent free press when we're not willing to have one ourselves,” Bush added.

The sentiments are familiar, but they mean more coming from Bush than from just about anyone else. He has been in Trump's position, and no one would mistake him for a media darling.

Bush easily could have offered a softer answer like this: I wouldn't use that word, enemy, but I certainly can relate to being a Republican president frustrated by media coverage.

Instead, Bush offered Trump no excuses for such rhetoric and declared his firm belief in the exact opposite of what Trump said. It might be easy to ignore journalists who call themselves “indispensable to democracy,” but it is harder to ignore Bush, a man who could have been excused for describing the press in less glowing terms.