'I Love Him To Death': Michelle Obama's Special Rapport With George W. Bush Revealed

Former US President George W. Bush shares a special rapport with former first lady Michelle Obama, and there are no two ways about it. Their camaraderie was evidenced on multiple occasions—Michelle and Bush were snapped hugging at the 2016 opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Bush also raised eyebrows when he passed her a cough drop during former Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) 2018 funeral.

“It shocked me,” said Bush on CBS Sunday Morning interview with Norah O’ Donnell that aired on Sunday, in response to the reaction to the viral moment at McCain’s funeral. “The American people were so surprised that Michelle Obama and I could be friends. I think it’s a problem that Americans are so polarized in their thinking that they can’t imagine a George W. Bush and a Michelle Obama being friends,” he added. Bush was promoting his new book, "Out of Many, One: Portraits of America's Immigrants," which features oil paintings by the former president of immigrants to the US on the show, as reported by The Hill.

Michelle has always been vocal about her fondness for the 74-year Republican and has even called him her “partner in crime” during official functions. “I didn’t realize at the time that anybody noticed what we were doing,” she said during one of her old interviews with anchors Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie, as cited in PEOPLE.

“[President Bush] is my partner in crime at every major thing where all the formers gather. So, we’re together all the time, and I love him to death. He’s a wonderful man. He’s a funny man,” she added.

The former POTUS in one of her old interviews with Today, revealed to his daughter Jenna Bush Hager that she and Bush had similar values. “I had an opportunity to sit by your father at funerals, the highs, and the lows, and we shared stories about our kids and about our parents,” she said.

"Our values are the same," the Waffles + Mochi star added of herself and Bush. “We disagree on policy, but we don't disagree on humanity, we don't disagree about love and compassion. I think that's true for all of us — it's just that we get lost in our fear of what's different,” Michelle added.