Former President George W. Bush said he was “disgusted” and “sick to his stomach” as he watched the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol unfold.
Bush made the comments in an interview with The Texas Tribune on Feb. 24 as part of the SXSW 2021 festival, which was streamed online on Thursday.
“I was sick to my stomach ... to see our nation’s Capitol being stormed by hostile forces,” the former president said during the interview. “And it really disturbed me to the point where I did put out a statement, and I’m still disturbed when I think about it.”
He continued: “It undermines rule of law and the ability to express yourself in peaceful ways in the public square. ... This was an expression that was not peaceful.”
Members of that mob are still being identified and charged in the deadly insurrection, which began as a pro-Donald Trump mob stormed the Capitol building, angered by the former president’s lie that the election was stolen from him. There is no evidence to back up such claims, and top election officials have repeatedly declared the 2020 race as the most secure in American history.
During the SXSW interview, Bush was pressed on whether he, too, thought the election was stolen.
“No,” he replied. “What’s putting democracy at risk is the capacity to get on the internet to spread ... all kinds of stuff. ... But checks and balances work.”
He continued: “Look, politics has always been rough ... And right now we’re at a period of time, though, when there’s a lot of anger in the system, which then causes people to worry about the future of our democracy. I think it’s going to eventually work its way out of the system.”
Bush was one of the first Republicans to congratulate now-President Joe Biden on his electoral victory in November. After the riot in January, he released a statement saying the attack, which left five people dead, was “sickening” and blamed those who had helped spread lies after the election for fanning the flames of insurrection.
“The violent assault on the Capitol — and disruption of a constitutionally mandated meeting of Congress — was undertaken by people whose passions have been inflamed by falsehoods and false hopes,” he said in January.
In the interview that aired Thursday, Bush expressed hope that the forces that helped compel the insurrectionists would begin to diminish over time.
“History and the United States has shown these populist movements begin to fritter over time, and so I’m optimistic about democracy.”