Former President Bush urges unity to overcome the coronavirus

Former President George W. Bush called for unity in the country's response to the novel coronavirus pandemic, in a video published Saturday on Twitter.

The big picture: The crisis has incited clashes between states and the federal government as well as between Democrats and Republicans, as governors decide how to exit stay-at-home orders and Congress passes trillion-dollar stimulus packages to stanch unemployment levels that could exceed those of the Great Depression.

What he's saying: "Finally, let us remember how small our differences are in the face of this shared threat. In the final analysis, we are not partisan combatants. We are human beings, equally vulnerable, and equally wonderful, in the sight of God. We rise or fall together, and we are determined to rise," Bush said in the video statement.

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