George W. Bush's remarks on 9/11 provoke strong reactions from conservatives

Former President George W. Bush discussing the 25th anniversary of 9/11.

Former President George W. Bush discussed 9/11 just ahead of the 25th anniversary of the terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans in New York City, Virginia and Pennsylvania, and some of his remarks drew sharp criticism online, particularly from conservatives.

Bush was speaking with Condoleezza Rice, his national security adviser at the time of the attacks who later went on to become his secretary of state, at his presidential library in Dallas and said Americans largely "don't pay attention to the lesson of 9/11."

"Our nation occasionally goes through isolationist periods, where the attitude is, 'Well, we've got too many problems at home. Therefore, who cares about what happens overseas?' Which really means to me they just don't pay attention to the lessons of 9/11, because what happens overseas matters to our national security at home," Bush told Rice.  

At one point in the discussion, Rice brought up Bush visiting an Islamic center in the days after the attacks to "make sure our Muslim-American citizens knew we didn't blame them for what had happened."

"I made it clear that Islam was a religion of peace, not a religion of war," the former president added.

That comment drew substantial blowback on social media, with some suggesting Bush wasn't clear-eyed about the threat facing America at the time, and that his complacency ushered in significant changes to America over the ensuing 25 years. 

"George Bush has always been sold as a man who met the moment. Even some of his haters describe him that way," talk show host Jesse Kelly said in a post on X. “You can’t handle that moment worse than George Bush handled it. 20 years of war and Muslim calls to prayer in America."

Evolutionary psychologist Gad Saad in a post on X said, "My family and my wife's family have had to escape Lebanon, Syria, Egypt,Turkey, and Canada because Islam is peace."

John Davidson, an editor at The Federalist, commenting on Bush's remarks on Islam said in a post on X that Bush is "a weak and insecure man who refused -- and still refuses -- to speak truthfully about the religious nature of 9/11 because he doesn’t want to be called a racist." Some accused Bush of outright lying to Americans about Islam. 

Bush and Rice also discussed the chaos of the day, and how they had initially thought Flight 93 had been shot down by the military. The flight crashed in a remote area of Pennsylvania after passengers fought back against the hijackers and brought the plane down without killing anyone on the ground. It's widely believed the hijackers were headed for Washington, D.C., to strike the Capitol or White House. 

The day after 9/11, Bush recalled, was marked by phone calls from world leaders and his administration's early ideas for getting the country back to normal. Bush said he was especially moved by a call he received from Japan's Prime Minister  Junichiro Koizumi. "It was an ironic phone call," Bush said, "because our fathers fought each other. And this guy's calling to tell me that we're gonna stand in mutual defense of our countries and defend our freedoms." 

Watch the full conversation below.