President George W Bush has just released a statement congratulating Vice President – now President-elect – Joe Biden on his victory over President Trump, even while affirming Trump’s right to call for a recount.

In the brief statement, Bush said he “just talked to the President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden,” and that he extended his “warm congratulations and thanked [Biden]” for his Saturday night speech.

The former president, the most recent Republican occupant of the White House before Trump, also congratulated the president on earning more than 70 million votes, what he called “an extraordinary political achievement”.

But most importantly, as the world waits for President Trump to make his first public statement since the vote, Bush reminded us that “Trump has the right to request recounts and pursue legal challenges, and any unresolved issues will be properly adjudicated,” Bush said.

“The American people can have confidence that this election was fundamentally, fair its integrity will be upheld, and its outcome is clear,” Bush said.

He followed that up with more of the same “we must come together for our families and neighbors” that politicians from both parties have been spouting. Notably, GWB is 74, four years younger than Joe Biden.

And as far as doling out advice about how to make the American people feel “confident” in the outcome of an election, it’s ironic hearing this from Bush, who, 30 years later, is still criticized for “stealing” the 2000 race against Al Gore with the help of his family.