George Bush Said Kanye West’s Infamous Call-Out Was an ‘All-Time Low’ in His Presidency

In 2005, Kanye West infamously announced that “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people” during a fundraiser. The off-script moment sparked backlash at the time. Five years later, the former president was still thinking about West’s words. He said that of all the moments in his presidency, this stood out as a particularly low point.

Kanye West called out George W. Bush during a Hurricane Katrina fundraiser

During the Concert for Hurricane Relief, a star-studded benefit for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, West and Mike Myers presented together. After Myers read his scripted lines about devastating flooding in New Orleans, West deviated from the words on the teleprompter.

“I hate the way they portray us in the media,” he said. “You see a Black family, it says, ‘They’re looting.’ You see a White family, it says, ‘They’re looking for food.’ And, you know, it’s been five days because most of the people are Black … We already realize a lot of people that could help are at war right now, fighting another way, and they’ve given them permission to go down and shoot us!”

Myers returned to the script, and West followed it up by saying, “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people.”

Though the moment sparked backlash, with NBC distancing itself from his words, West later said he felt it was important to speak from the heart.

George W. Bush called Kanye West’s accusations a low point in his presidency

Five years after the televised benefit, Bush said he strongly resented West’s words.

“He called me a racist,” Bush told Matt Lauer in an interview, per NPR. “And I didn’t appreciate it then. I don’t appreciate it now. It’s one thing to say, ‘I don’t appreciate the way he’s handled his business.’ It’s another thing to say, ‘This man’s a racist.’ I resent it, it’s not true.”

He called the moment “disgusting,” and, in his book, Decision Points, described it as one of the lowest points of his presidency.

“I faced a lot of criticism as president. I didn’t like hearing people claim that I lied about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction or cut taxes to benefit the rich,” he wrote. “But the suggestion that I was racist because of the response to Katrina represented an all-time low.”

Lauer pushed back against this, noting that it might rankle to hear that the former president described West’s words as a lower point than watching the scale of human suffering in Louisiana.  

“No, and I also make it clear that the misery in Louisiana affected me deeply as well,” Bush replied. “There’s a lot of tough moments in the book. And it was a disgusting moment, pure and simple.”

Mike Myers said he was proud to have been next to him

Many people have commented on Myers’ shocked expression in reaction to West’s words. He later admitted he did feel surprised and uncomfortable in the moment. While West told him he was going to “take some liberties,” Myers told GQ that he didn’t think “the liberty would be calling out the president.” Still, he said he agreed with what West was saying.

“I’m, like, super proud to have been next to him. The look on my face is … to be honest with you, I thought I handled it well. I was like ‘This is what’s happening…’” he said, adding, “It has been painful that the culture has at times meditated on my surprise, when it’s really the message, dude. The message, the message, the message, you know.”