Today, former president George W. Bush went on Today to speak with his daughter, a host of the show, about how Putin dissed Barney. First, they had to get past some stuff about Bush’s artistic side and his paintings of world leaders. But then, it was on:

“As you know, our dear dog Barney, who had a special place in my heart,” began Bush. “I introduced him to Putin, Putin dissed him and said, ‘You call it a dog?'”

Harsh. Whatever, Putin.

Bush continued, “A year later, your mom and I go to visit and Vladimir says, ‘Would you like to meet my dog?’ Out bounds this huge hound, obviously much bigger than a Scottish Terrier, and Putin looks at me and says, ‘Bigger, stronger and faster than Barney.'”

What?

“I just took it in. I didn’t react,” continued Bush. “I just said, ‘Wow.’ Anybody who thinks ‘my dog is bigger than your dog’ is an interesting character. And that painting kind of reflects that.”

Well said, Bush. Nice, measured take on people who think small dogs are any less dog than big dogs. He could have gone on, about how someone who thinks one size of dog is better than another size of dog shouldn’t be in the business of running a country, but hey, that’s diplomacy for you. Here’s that painting, by the way:

Bush’s paintings of leaders like Putin and former British prime minister Tony Blair are on display as part of an exhibit called “The Art of Leadership: A President’s Personal Diplomacy” at the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in Dallas. This marks the first exhibit of his paintings, which comes after many leaks of his work after a hacker named Guccifer stole them from his family’s email accounts.

Here are some of Bush’s dog painting that were leaked, as posted by Gawker last March:

According to MyFoxAtlanta.com, Bush has painting more than 50 dogs. An artist the reporter spoke to, Bonne Flood, said Bush had been coming to her for art lessons.

“He started off painting dogs. I think he said he painted 50 dogs,” Flood said. “He pulled out this canvas and started painting dogs and I thought, ‘Oh my God, I don’t paint dogs!'”

She also said, “He has such a passion for painting, it’s amazing. He’s going to go down in the history books as a great artist.”

Via the Today show

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