Bush: Kanye’s Telethon Dis Was the Worst Moment of My Presidency

Lots of crappy things happened in those eight years, but George W. Bush has finally identified the single worst moment of his entire presidency. In his upcoming memoir Decision Points, he says the “all-time low� point was when Kanye West went off prompter at that Katrina telethon and declared, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.� Yes, this was even worse than 9/11, Katrina itself, and that time Bright Eyes sang a mean song on The Tonight Show.

From an interview with Matt Lauer (via Ken Tucker), to air next Monday:

“He called me a racist,� Bush tells Lauer. “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.�

Lauer quotes from Bush’s new book: Five years later I can barely write those words without feeling disgust.� Lauer adds, “You go on: ‘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. But the suggestion that I was racist because of the response to Katrina represented an all-time low.’

President Bush responds: “Yeah. I still feel that way as you read those words. I felt ‘em when I heard ‘em, felt ‘em when I wrote ‘em and I felt ‘em when I’m listening to ‘em.

Lauer: “You say you told Laura at the time it was the worst moment of your Presidency?�

Bush: “Yes. My record was strong I felt when it came to race relations and giving people a chance. And it was a disgusting moment.�

Lauer: “I wonder if some people are going to read that, now that you’ve written it, and they might give you some heat for that. And the reason is this — “

Bush [interrupting]: “Don’t care.�

Lauer: “Well, here’s the reason. You’re not saying that the worst moment in you’re Presidency was watching the misery in Louisiana. You’re saying it was when someone insulted you because of that.�

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

But it was a pretty great long-term investment for Kanye, who surely appreciates this awesome, comeback-helping publicity three weeks before the release of his new album.

George Bush really does not ‘appreciate’ Kanye West’s Katrina criticism: ‘The worst moment of my Presidency’ [Ken Tucker/EW]