“I believe democracy will ultimately take hold,” Bush said in an interview with ABC News aired on Tuesday. “I hope that people who live in comfortable nations are helping some of these young Egyptians understand how to build political parties and understand how to claim their rightful place in the political process.”

Bush said American history showed that “democracies take a while to root.”

“I mean, look at our own country, took a hundred years to get rid of slavery. Democracy requires a patient hand. Democracy requires the building of civil society,” he added.