Former president George W. Bush has come back into the political arena.

“I think we all need answers,” Bush said in an interview with Matt Lauer of the Today Show on Tuesday. “It’s kind of hard to tell others to have a free press when we’re not willing to have one ourselves.”

The interview was originally intended to be a showcase of “Portraits of Courage”, Bush’s series of paintings honoring war veterans. Nonetheless, it follows a very different tone than that of the current administration in more ways than one.

The Press

It isn’t news that President Donald Trump is not a fan of the media. Speaking out against them via twitter, denying press access at a security briefing and refusing to answer questions he didn’t like from reporters is evidence of President Trump’s media-centric disdain.

Freedom of the press, a right given to the American people since the Bill of Rights, prevents the government from interfering with the communication of opinions and information. One could argue that denying select news organizations from attending a security briefing is violating the right of the freedom of the press granted in the first amendment.

Bush is one of those people. “I consider the media to be dispensable to democracy. We need an independent media to hold people accountable,” he said. “Power can be very addictive and corrosive and it’s important for the media to account people who abuse their power whether it be here or elsewhere.”

Muslims/Muslim-Americans

In a speech following the 9/11 Twin-Tower attacks, Bush addressed not only Muslim Americans but Muslims all over the world. “We respect your faith,” he said. “It’s practiced freely by many millions of more in countries that America counts as friends. Its teachings are good and peaceful.”

On December 7, 2015, 14 years later, President Trump called for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.”

Which wasn’t the only time President Trump has perpetuated Islamophobic ideologies. “I think Islam hates us,” he told Anderson Cooper in an interview for CNN.

And there was also that time that President Trump suggested that Ghazala Khan, wife of Khizir Khan who lost her son, a Muslim U.S. Army captain, in Iraq in 2004; was silent on stage at the Democratic National Convention because her faith didn’t allow her to speak.

“She had nothing to say,” he said. “She probably- maybe she wasn’t allowed to have anything to say.”

Immigration

Back in 2006 Bush gave a speech outlining his immigration reform plan to strengthen border security, provide temporary workers with identification cards, increase immigration enforcement within businesses to reduce exploitation of workers, slow the demand for illegal workers, require immigrants to learn English and to grant a path to citizenship for every illegal immigrant.

“We must remember that the vast majority of illegal immigrants are decent people who work hard, support their families, practice their faith, and lead responsible lives,” he said.

Immigration reform has been a central pillar in the Trump presidential campaign from the get-go. Focusing on building a wall along the Mexican-American border, President Trump has said at many rallies and speeches that he condemns illegal immigrants and believes they are causing issues in our country.

“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best,” President Trump said. “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re bringing rapists.”

What is interesting about this statement in particular, is the data which contradicts it.

The crime rate in native-born or second generation Americans is actually higher than that of immigrants according to the Pew Research Center.

It’s been eight years since George W. Bush was president and a lot has happened since then. While he has been M.I.A. since President Trump’s election, Bush is now re-entering the political arena. At the least, Bush seems to be providing us with quite the contrast between not only his administration and Trump’s, but perhaps the old Republican party with the new.