See George W. Bush and Barack Obama Share a Laugh Behind Bill Clinton's Back at Hurricane Relief Concert

Maria Pasquini
Updated

On Saturday, all five former living United States presidents — Democrats Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter and Republicans George W. Bush and his father George H.W. Bush — came together for a relief concert to aid victims of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.

The event, “Deep From the Heart: The One America Appeal,” was held at Texas A&M, which is also home to the presidential library of George H.W. Bush.

The relief concert featured musical guests Sam Moore, Yolanda Evans, Lyle Lovett and a special guest appearance from Lady Gaga.

It apparently also featured a little comedy from George W. Bush.

After all five former presidents took the stage at the event, Clinton stepped to the mic to deliver remarks. Meanwhile, behind him, the younger Bush made an unknown comment to Obama out of the corner of his mouth, prompting his predecessor to break into laughter.

Obama quickly stifled his laughter as Bush smiled and shot him a couple sideways looks.

Lady Gaga, 31, later tweeted a photo of herself with the former presidents, captioning it, “Nothing more beautiful than everyone putting their differences aside to help humanity in the face of catastrophe. #OneAmericaAppeal.”

She also applauded the One America Appeal organization for “establishing a mental health and trauma recovery fund,” which the singer says she donated to personally.

Thank you for establishing a mental health and trauma recovery fund within #OneAmericaAppeal which I donated to personally for Hurricane Relief. The @btwfoundation is in awe of this commitment to rebuilding these communities emotionally and psychologically.

A post shared by xoxo, Gaga (@ladygaga) on Oct 21, 2017 at 7:41pm PDT

Although current President Donald Trump was not in attendance, he did share a videotaped message calling the former presidents “some of America’s finest public servants,” and adding that “this wonderful effort reminds us that we truly are one nation under God, all unified by our values and devotion to one another.”

According to a press release from the office of George H.W. Bush before the event, so far the One America Appeal for Hurricane Relief — which was launched by the five former presidents on Sept. 7 — has raised $31 million in tax-deductible funds from over 80,000 donors.

“With damage estimates from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria topping $300 billion and requiring months and years of rebuilding ahead, we hope this strong start to the One America Appeal is just that – a start,” said David Jones, CEO of the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation in the press release. “The former presidents want to thank each donor who, out of the goodness of their hearts, has given of themselves in such a selfless way to help their fellow Americans.”

All donations made through OneAmericaAppeal.org are deposited into a special account established by the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation, which ensures 100 percent of finds go to relief for victims from Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.