All five living former U.S. Presidents come together for new initiative, but Donald Trump is left out

| 10:05 pm EDT September 7, 2017
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All five living former Presidents of the United States have come together for an unprecedented new bipartisan project to help bring relief efforts to recent hurricane victims. Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, and George H.W. Bush have released a joint video this evening, announcing the effort. Notably not included: the person who currently occupies the office of President of the United States.

The new initiative is called One America Appeal, and is aimed at helping the survivors of Hurricane Harvey in Texas, while stating its intention to include those affected by Hurricane Irma. Bill Clinton tweeted “Hurricane Harvey shattered homes and lives. Irma is just as dangerous. Americans lift each other up. Join us to help.” George W. Bush tweeted that “As former Presidents, we wanted to come together…in supporting Houston and the communities along the Gulf Coast.” That’s when Donald Trump tried to get in on the action.

A few hours after the five former Presidents launched the initiatives, Trump tweeted “We will confront ANY challenge, no matter how strong the winds or high the water. I’m proud to stand with Presidents for #OneAmericaAppeal.” The trouble: it appears no one invited him. It’s a good thing that Trump is steering people toward the charitable initiative. But it also serves to highlight that, despite this being a bipartisan effort which includes Presidents who are each seen as divisive by the other side of the political aisle, including Trump would be impossible – because he’s just that toxically unpopular in general.

Here’s how One America Appeal describes itself on its official website: “The former Presidents were inspired to come together in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, which unleashed devastating flooding — and spurred thousands of first responders and neighbors into action. More than one million people have been displaced by Harvey, which has caused up to $180 billion in damages to over 200,000 homes over a 300-mile path of destruction.” You can contribute at oneamericaappeal.org