Thriller novelist Brad Meltzer on Sunday praised former President George H.W. Bush for his “decency” and said that people in the U.S. are no longer “talking to each other decently.”

“I think if you did a search of all the things that have been said about him now that he’s passed, look how many times the word ‘decency’ is mentioned. And I think part of it is because of course that’s who he was, and I think part of it is because as a country that’s what we need and we miss,” Meltzer said on C-SPAN2. 

{mosads}”And again I don’t care what your politics are — I don’t care what side of the aisle you’re on,” he added. “We are not as a culture talking to each other decently any more.”

BRAD MELTZER ON GEORGE H.W. BUSH
We’re LIVE with thriller author @BradMeltzer. In this portion, he talks about his last moments with former President George H.W. Bush.#InDepth@GrandCentralPub pic.twitter.com/1ZOiWxkRol

— BookTV on C-SPAN2 (@BookTV) December 2, 2018

Meltzer added that, in his view, there is too much of “us versus them” rather than “we” in U.S. dialogue. 

“I’m personally tired of us vs. them and it’s time to get back to ‘we.’ George Bush, may he rest in peace, was very good at ‘we,’ ” he said. 

Bush died on Friday at the age of 94. His death has prompted an outpouring of praise for the former president, including from President Trump, who has feuded with the Bush family.

Trump on Saturday told reporters at the Group of 20 summit in Argentina that Bush was a “wonderful man” and “a very fine man.”