All five living former presidents of the United States came together on Saturday for a concert to raise funds for the victims of the three hurricanes that hit the country last month, BBC reported.
Barack Obama, George W Bush, Bill Clinton, George HW Bush and Jimmy Carter made a rare appearance on stage together in Texas for the One America Appeal, set up to help rebuild towns and infrastructure after Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.
The appeal was first launched after Hurricane Harvey that made landfall in Texas, but it has now been expanded to include Florida, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, The Guardian reported. The event featured several country and gospel music stars, and a performance by Lady Gaga.
Donald Trump, whose response to the disaster at Puerto Rico has been criticised in recent weeks, did not attend but sent a message expressing “deep gratitude”.
The show comes after a week in which both Obama and Bush criticised Trump’s administration of the country.
Last week, during a speech in Virginia, Obama said the present policies reflected a tendency to “demonise people who have different ideas”. Without mentioning Trump, he said, “You’ll notice I haven’t been commenting a lot on politics lately. But here’s one thing I know: if you have to win a campaign by dividing people, you’re not going to be able to govern them.”
Bush gave a speech in New York saying he was concerned about how “bigotry seems emboldened” in a climate of cruel rhetoric and nativism, BBC reported. George W Bush and his father George HW Bush are members of the Republican party, which Trump is also a part of.
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