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George W. Bush Says We 'Need Answers' About Trump and Russia

The former president also spoke out against Trump's anti-media crusade.

In an interview with Today, former president George W. Bush told Matt Lauer that the American public "all need answers" regarding Trump's alleged ties to Russia.

"I think we all need answers," Bush said Monday. "I'm not sure the right avenue to take. I am sure, though, that that question needs to be answered."

Bush—in rare form, seeing how he usually avoids commenting on politics—also criticized Trump's stance that the media is the "enemy of the people." A free press is "indispensable to democracy," Bush remarked. "It's kind of hard to tell others to have an independent free press when we're not willing to have one ourselves."

Bush was careful when asked about the bipartisan call for a special prosecutor to probe Trump's alleged ties to Russia and Putin, though. He said he would defer to Senator Richard Burr, chairman of the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, to make that call.

"If [Burr] were to recommend a special prosecutor, then it'd have a lot more credibility with me," Bush said.