Laura Ingraham On 'The O’Reilly Factor': President Bush Vs. The Tea Party?

(By Alex Alvarez, Mediaite, Feb. 2, 2011) - Laura Ingraham is substituting for Bill O’Reilly on 'The Factor' tonight, and decided to discuss George W. Bush’s relationship to the various Tea Party movements.

Ingraham pointed out that Bush recently said the movement was good for the country, but later “attacked” immigration issues that served as a key priority for many Tea Party members. The former President discussed nativism, calling it an “evil triplet” of isolationism and protectionism, and noting how, in the 1920s, U.S. debate on immigration was guided to some degree by prejudice against the country’s wave of Jewish and Italian immigrants. “I’m a little concerned,” said Bush, “that we may be going through the same period.”

Ingraham countered by saying that opposition to “so-called immigration reform” is “rooted in our belief in the rule of law” and outrage over politicians’ seeming hesitation to enforce laws regarding immigration and border control – it was not, she added, a symptom of personal feelings about foreigners.