"The presidency is more important than the one who occupies the office," former President George W. Bush said Wednesday

George W. Bush Seemingly Takes a Dig at Donald Trump: 'A Lot of People Are Concerned Right Now'

Former President George W. Bush appeared to take a jab at his Republican successor on Wednesday as he opened the A+E upfronts with some musings on American history.

Though Bush, 72, never mentioned President Donald Trump, he criticized “America first policies,” which he said once “let our allies be ravaged by Hitler,” according to Deadline. It was a rebuke of Trump in all but name.

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“The presidency is more important than the one who occupies the office,” Bush reportedly said. “I understand a lot of people are concerned right now, but let me take you back to 1968.”

Bush — who was on hand to present an upcoming slate of History channel projects — then described a turbulent time in the country’s history involving protests and wars that made him question just how the U.S. would pull through, according to Deadline.

He offered a glimmer of hope by explaining that America is resilient, citing various moments in history from which the country had bounced back.

“People would come up to me and say, ‘Oh man, you had the worst presidency ever,’ ” he recalled. “I said, ‘Read about Lincoln.’ ”

Image zoom From left: A+E Networks Group President Paul Buccieri, Robin Roberts and former President George W. Bush Michael Loccisano/Getty

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Deadline reports that Bush also criticized the treatment of immigrants — another subtle strike at President Trump — and he made multiple references to reading books, something many have speculated Trump rarely, if ever, does.

(As Michael Wolff wrote in his disputed book Fire and Fury, “[Trump] didn’t read. He didn’t really even skim. If it was print, it might as well not exist. Some believed that for all practical purposes he was no more than semi-literate.”)

He also previously fought to end the Obama-era program Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which allows young immigrants to stay in the country if they were first brought here illegally as children.

The Bush Center’s immigration policy recommendations, meanwhile, released in November, call for a long-sought political middle ground: Immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally should have a path to citizenship and Congress should “enhance the enforcement of immigration laws.”

Bush has been vocal about his feelings on Trump in the past, saying in a 2017 book, “This guy doesn’t know what it means to be president.”

Image zoom From left: Laura Bush, George W. Bush and Donald Trump Chip Somodevilla/Getty

Former First Lady Barbara Bush also had negative feelings for the 45th president, as a new biography of her reports she kept a Trump countdown clock by her bed and “blamed” him for a heart health episode she survived in the summer of 2016.

On Wednesday, Garth Brooks and Sylvester Stallone were among the other famous faces on hand at the A+E upfronts.

Stallone announced he’ll direct and executive produce a new drama series called The Tenderloin for the History channel, while Brooks revealed he’ll be the focus of a four-part Biography series titled Garth: The Road I’m On.