 Story highlights He added that "bigotry seems emboldened" 
 
 The 43rd president also addressed Russian influence on the United States 
 
 Washington (CNN) Former President George W. Bush condemned bigotry and white supremacy Thursday while endorsing policies that run counter to those supported by President Donald Trump.  Former President George W. Bush in a Thursday speech called on Americans to “recall and recover” their country’s identity, slamming the 21st century rise of isolationism, nativism and anti-globalization sentiments. He added that "bigotry seems emboldened," though he didn't explain why. Our politics seems more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and outright fabrication,” Bush warned in remarks at the Bush Institute’s Spirit of Liberty event in New York. "Bigotry in any form is blasphemy against the American creed and it means the very identity of our nation depends on the passing of civic ideals to the next generation. In his recommendations to strengthen American democracy, he said US institutions must "step up" and "we need to recall and recover our own identity." State of American democracy: mean MORE, and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley Nimrata (Nikki) HaleyTrump approval rating drops to 39 percent: poll Iran accuses US of presenting fabricated evidence of Houthi missiles Russia sanctions not on G7 agenda: report MORE. "But we cannot wish globalization away, any more than we could wish away the Agricultural Revolution or the Industrial Revolution.” 
 
 The tyrannies in North Korea and Venezuela are obvious and the fraying of democracies is clear in Europe, Bush said, but Americans must face the problems at home, too. "We've seen our discourse degraded by casual cruelty," Bush said, adding, "Too often, we judge other groups by their worst examples while judging ourselves by our best intentions, forgetting the image of God we should see in each other." We’ve seen nationalism distorted into nativism, [and] forgotten the dynamism that immigration has always brought to America.” 
 
 All of this, he said, is even more important in the face of the attacks outsiders have made on American democracy. Bush’s version: “Our identity as a nation, and unlike many other nations, is not determined by geography or ethnicity, by soil or blood. "The themes President Bush spoke about today are really the same themes he has spoken about for the last two decades," the Bush spokesman had said.
– Another prominent Republican is coming out against Trumpism without actually mentioning President Trump by name. In a speech at a Bush Institute event in New York Thursday, former president George W. Bush said that in this moment, "bigotry seems emboldened. Our politics seems more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and outright fabrication," Politico reports. "Bullying and prejudice in our public life sets a national tone, provides permission for cruelty and bigotry, and compromises the moral education of children." Politico says the speech, which discussed, among other things, factors Bush believes are contributing to democratic collapse and what needs to be done, made "obvious references to Trump" without his name ever being mentioned. "We've seen nationalism distorted into nativism, [and] forgotten the dynamism that immigration has always brought to America," he said. "Our identity as a nation, unlike other nations, is not determined by geography or ethnicity, by soil or blood," he added, per CNN. "This means that ... bigotry and white supremacy, in any form, is blasphemy against the American creed." Bush said divided partisan politics has failed us and the government is stuck; he also mentioned Russian interference in the last presidential election and called for more election security: "Foreign aggressions, including cyberattacks, disinformation, and financial influence should never be downplayed or tolerated." And he spoke out against isolationism, per the Hill, considering "American security is directly threatened by the chaos and despair of distance places." Sen. John McCain gave a similar speech just days ago.