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Sweet viral moment: George Bush slips Michelle Obama candy at McCain's funeral

Some Twitter users saw a welcome sign of bipartisan spirit in the televised moment.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, generational studies. Credentials
  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
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Gael Cooper
2 min read

Sen. John McCain's memorial service on Friday at Washington National Cathedral was a touching event, honoring the many sacrifices the late politician and former POW made for his country. 

McCain, who died of brain cancer Aug. 25 at age 81, intentionally brought together politicians from both parties at his service, asking both former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama to speak. "What better way to get a last laugh than to make George and I say nice things about him to a national audience?" Obama joked in his speech.

Bush and his wife, Laura, and Obama and his wife, Michelle, were seated next to each other, and during Sen. Joe Liberman's eulogy for McCain, CNN cameras caught a sweet moment that quickly went viral.

Bush was seen taking a piece of what looks like candy (or a mint or lozenge) from his wife, and surreptitiously passing it to Michelle Obama, who mouths a "thank you," while all four members of the former first couples smile.

In the midst of a solemn event, that one exchange between members of opposing political parties was seen by many as a message of hope and unity.

Bush and Michelle Obama have shared other close moments, including a chat at President Donald Trump's inauguration, and a hug at the 2016 opening of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture .

"She kind of likes my sense of humor," CNN quoted Bush as saying at the time. "Anybody who likes my sense of humor, I immediately like."