Ellen DeGeneres Responds to Criticism for Hanging Out with George W. Bush
"I think that we've forgotten that that's okay that we're all different"
The TV host and the former U.S. president attended a Dallas Cowboys game over the weekend, sitting next to each other in one of the owner's suites. Twitter immediately jumped on DeGeneres, criticizing her for befriending a war criminal who has a track record of anti-LGBTQ+ policies and continues to support Republicans under Trump.
Just Ellen Degeneres hanging out with her buddy George W. Bush who slaughtered over a million human beings by launching an illegal war against #Iraq on a pack of lies. How adorable. https://t.co/OmUiva0qkG
— Sarah Abdallah (@sahouraxo) October 7, 2019
listen up wokesters: say what you will about ellen, but i've had ENOUGH of this cancel culture that goes after decent men like george w. bush just because they launched an illegal war, drowned a city, and brought the world to the brink of a second great depression.
— b-boy bouiebaisse (@jbouie) October 8, 2019
Why are Ellen Degeneres and George W. Bush watching the Cowboys-packers game together? Has she forgotten about that whole anti-gay marriage, war in Iraq, general incompetence thing?
— Adam B. Lerner (@AdamBLerner) October 6, 2019
DeGeneres replied to the angry tweets on her show this morning (October 8), choosing instead to share a tweet that she liked: "Ellen and George Bush together makes me have faith in America again."
In her opening monologue on the show, she explained that she is friends with Bush, as well as "a lot of people that don't share the same beliefs that I have."
"We're all different," she continued. "And I think that we've forgotten that that's okay that we're all different."
She went on to describe that when she urges people to "be kind," she's not only applying that philosophy to people who think exactly the same way she does — she means everyone should be kind to everyone.
Watch her response to the Twitter drama below.
Yes, that was me at the Cowboys game with George W. Bush over the weekend. Here's the whole story. pic.twitter.com/AYiwY5gTIS
— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) October 8, 2019
Unfortunately, the new segment has done little to calm enraged tweeters. See some of the responses below.
instead of apologising ellen has decided to double down, compare being a war criminal to wearing fur and effectively praise herself for being friends with the bush's - the whole episode is a perfect example of how celebrity cultural liberalism can be a toxic and dangerous thing pic.twitter.com/iaHtLWWX6l
— Mic-hell Millar 🎃 (@miketomillar) October 8, 2019
So Ellen hangs out with Bush because she believes we should be kind to everyone regardless of their politics and beliefs. Okay cool. Do you hang out with other mass murderers too, or just Bush?
— The Humanist Report🌹 (@HumanistReport) October 8, 2019
1 million Iraqi deaths because of him. 1 fucking million @TheEllenShow. Fuck you. https://t.co/Q0aUdE0YtP
"I'm friends with George W. Bush" - @TheEllenShow, explaining why she was sitting next to the torturer and war criminal, laughing it up at a football game, reflecting the prevailing liberal ethos: https://t.co/2s7Jz08W2V
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) October 8, 2019
Here's the thing, Ellen, George W. Bush is a war criminal who is responsible for death on a cataclysmic scale. It's not a matter of being friends with people with different beliefs—we all have those friends—it's about having a little perspective on the damage he's done. https://t.co/7FJTqPEfb8
— Walker Bragman (@WalkerBragman) October 8, 2019