George W. Bush, struggling to hold on to his dog upon his arrival in Maine during a rainstorm.

Who’s Afraid of Bushcore?

Glossing over the bungling of Katrina and the disastrous wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, younger generations are recasting George W. Bush as America’s most lovable grandfather

By Carolina de Armas and Paulina Prosnitz

Twenty-five years after the turn of the century, the 2000s are back. Low-waisted jeans are in again. Oasis has returned. Countless movies from the early aughts are getting their sequels. (See: Freakier Friday, The Devil Wears Prada 2.) But no one could have anticipated the return of … George W. Bush.

For the Gen Z set, many of whom were in diapers when “Dubya” was president, trending TikTok videos of the 79-year-old Texan—tagged #Bushcore and set to Nicki Minaj songs—evoke a time when everything seemed like it was, well, a grand old party.