The Republican Party, to which Bush belongs, nominated Trump because he represents their values. Bush and his party supported Trump during the years of his Presidency, during the racism, the advancement of inequality, the polluting of the environment, the denying climate change.

How can Bush say we need to “take care of each other” when he and his Party are right now in the courts trying to strip Americans of their healthcare?

How can he say “officials at every level are setting out requirements of public health” when those same officials dismantled the pandemic preparedness team and underfunded the CDC and other offices of public health for years?

How can he speak of empathy and compassion when he failed the people of Louisiana post-Katrina?

He says we are “equally vulnerable”. Not true. Some of us are more vulnerable than others. He even says: “the elderly, the ill, the unemployed.” He left out people of color who are experiencing a higher death rate from COVID-19.

He speaks of “this period of service and sacrifice.” Shared sacrifice? According to former labor secretary Robert Reich:

America’s billionaires grew their wealth by $282,000,000,000 in just 23 days during the lockdown. That’s $12,300,000,000 a day. Meanwhile, millions of Americans are out of work and struggling to pay the bills. This is a tale of two pandemics.

Why don’t America’s elite tell low-income essential workers to shelter in place, at home, without fear of loss of income or healthcare? Because then they would have to sacrifice too.

Whoever wrote this speech is trying to salvage the reputation of the Republican party. Bush says “in the final analysis we are not partisan combatants.” But this speech IS partisan. It’s political. It’s disingenuous. To use the words in this speech without sincerity is despicable.