As a figure who was both praised and criticized during his time as president, George W. Bush knows the importance of a free press.

"I consider the media to be indispensable to democracy," Bush told Today show host Matt Lauer in a Monday interview to promote his new book, Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief’s Tribute to America’s Warriors. "We need an independent media to hold power to account. Power can be very addictive and it can be corrosive and it's important for the media to call to account who abuse their power."

He pointed to Russian President Vladimir Putin: "It's kind of hard to tell others to have an independent free press when we don't have one ourselves."

Bush's comments come as President Trump continues to deride the media, from tweets to his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

Other points the 43rd president addressed:

On looking into whether Russian hackers intervened with the election

"I think we need answers," Bush said. He went on to say he had faith in Sen. Richard Burr, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, as an "independent thinker."

On the importance of freedom of religion

"A bedrock of our freedom is the right to worship freely," said Bush, who famously said after the 9/11 attacks that the United States respected the faith of Muslims around the world.

On Trump's temporary travel ban

He gave a rambling answer about whether the ban on seven Muslim-majority countries would make it easier or harder to fight terrorism, saying that the country needed to project strength if the goal is to "defeat ISIS." He concluded, "I am for an immigration policy that is welcoming and upholds the law."

On whether Trump would be able to unite the country

Bush reminded us that we're only one month into the Trump administration. Noting that Trump pledged to bring the country together, Bush said, "I think you have to take the man for his word."

On being president

"One thing, though, that's for certain: The job's a tough job. Everybody looks at the presidency when they campaign one way," Bush said. "Then they get into office and find out there's a reality to the job." According to Bush, it's hard to compare his election (a contentious campaign ultimately decided by the Supreme Court) to Trump's.