--- title: Dem Debate: Clinton Praises George W. Bush description: Watch Clinton praise Bush for making it clear that the country is not at war with Islam. canonical: https://time.com/4113449/dem-debate-clinton-praises-bush/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-15T03:00:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T12:38:02.988Z article:section: Politics og:title: See Hillary Clinton Praise One Part of George W. Bush's Record og:description: She said the U.S. isn't at war with a religion og:url: https://time.com/4113449/dem-debate-clinton-praises-bush/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8512742a2b03fe29/69887123cf40a8b27ec40aa7/debate-clinton.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: US-VOTE-DEMOCRATS-DEBATE og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: See Hillary Clinton Praise One Part of George W. Bush's Record twitter:description: She said the U.S. isn't at war with a religion twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8512742a2b03fe29/69887123cf40a8b27ec40aa7/debate-clinton.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # See Hillary Clinton Praise One Part of George W. Bush's Record by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Nov 15, 2015 3:00 AM UTC  Hillary Clinton looks on during the second Democratic presidential primary debate in Des Moines, IO on Nov. 14, 2015. Hillary Clinton looks on during the second Democratic presidential primary debate in Des Moines, IO on Nov. 14, 2015.Mandel Ngan—AFP/Getty Images by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Nov 15, 2015 3:00 AM UTC Hillary Clinton gave former President George W. Bush a nod at Saturday’s Democratic presidential debate, where foreign policy took center stage in the wake of Friday’s terror attacks in Paris. When asked a question about “radical Islam,” the former Secretary of State criticized some of the language used to by Republican candidates, which Clinton said misrepresents who the U.S. is fighting. “That was one of the real contributions, despite all the other problems, that George W. Bush made after 9/11, when he basically said, after going to a mosque in Washington, we are not at war with Islam or muslims,” said Clinton. “We are at war with violent extremism, we are at war with people who use their religion for purposes of power and oppression and yes we are at war with those people. But I don’t want us to be painting with too broad a brush.” Republican candidates chimed in on Twitter. > [](https://twitter.com/GovMikeHuckabee/status/665719536771948544) > [](https://twitter.com/JebBush/status/665718156858687488) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4113449/dem-debate-clinton-praises-bush/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4113449/dem-debate-clinton-praises-bush/"},"headline":"See Hillary Clinton Praise One Part of George W. 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