<p>WASHINGTON — George W. Bush says the Republican Party he served as president has become “isolationist, protectionist and, to a certain extent, nativist” and says he’s especially concerned about anti-immigration rhetoric. </p>
<p>“It’s a beautiful country we have and yet it’s not beautiful when we condemn, call people names and scare people about immigration,” Bush told NBC’s “Today” show on Tuesday. </p>
<p>Bush, who was in New York to preside over a naturalization ceremony, said <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-entertainment-politics-immigration-george-w-bush-f731fda15d2f91dcbdca160bc6be2b89">his new book</a>, “Out of Many, One: Portraits of America’s Immigrants,” aims to ”elevate the discourse."</p>
<p>The former president did not mention Donald Trump, who aggressively curbed both legal and illegal immigration during his tenure and sought to build a “big, beautiful wall” at the southwest border with Mexico to keep out migrants. Trump, a fellow Republican, disparaged the migrants as invaders and “illegal aliens” and, as a candidate, referred to Mexicans as "rapists."</p>
<p>But Trump has <a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-politics-381bf69568bc0bd416e9dbb45aad1af7">dominated the Republican Party</a>, even out of office. Hard-right House Republicans last week discussed forming an <a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-marjorie-taylor-greene-immigration-eefdf9c180f69008d60ed92b9ef2ce03">America First Caucus</a>, which one document described as championing “Anglo-Saxon political traditions” and warning that mass immigration was putting the “unique identity” of the U.S. at risk.</p>
<p>Bush, asked to describe the state of the party, replied, “I would describe it as isolationist, protectionist and, to a certain extent, nativist.” He added, “It’s not exactly my vision as an old guy, but I’m just an old guy that’s put out to pasture.”</p>
