Former first lady Michelle Obama on Thursday praised ex-President George W. Bush, telling NBC's "Today" Show she loves him "to death."
"He's a wonderful man — he's a funny man," she told hosts Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie during an appearance where she announced a new Obama Foundation initiative funding 1,500 programs that will educate girls around the world.
The pair were most recently spotted at the funeral service for Sen. John McCain, where Bush was captured passing Obama a cough drop.
"I didn't realize at the time that anybody noticed what we were doing," Obama said. ". . . President Bush and I are forever seatmates because of protocol – that's how we sit at all the official functions. So, he is my partner in crime at every major thing where all the formers gather."
Some people found her bond with Bush a problem, and referred to him as a war criminal, according to Yahoo.
Obama, though, dismissed concerns of a backlash.
"Party doesn't separate us," she said. "Color, gender — those kinds of things don't separate us. It's the messages we send. And if we're the adults and the leaders in the room, and we're not showing that level of decency, we cannot expect our children to do the same."
The former first lady's memoir, "Becoming," comes out Nov. 13.
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