the bush dynasty

Jeb Bush Cites His Last Name As a Foreign-Policy Qualification

George W. and Jeb Bush.
Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

At the GOP debate on Wednesday, Jeb Bush proudly defended his brother’s presidency by insisting, “He kept us safe,” and his campaign later tweeted out that quote attached to an image of President George W. Bush speaking to firefighters from the rubble of the World Trade Center on 9/11. Earlier this year, the candidate and his campaign seemed flummoxed on how to handle his brother’s controversial presidency, especially the invasion of Iraq, but now Jeb Bush is definitely running toward, rather than away from, his family name. CNN reports that at an event on Friday in Michigan, Jeb doubled down on the idea that being related to George W. Bush was a positive association, arguing that the Bush name was in fact one of the reasons voters should send him to the White House.

In a speech kicking off the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference, Jeb first criticized Hillary Clinton’s foreign-policy record, asking the crowd to “name a country in the world where our relationship is better today than the day that Hillary of Clinton became secretary of state.” He then claimed that he would be able to lead a stronger foreign policy for the nation, and that “I know how to do this because, yes, I am a Bush. I happened to see two really good presidents develop relationships with other countries.”

Jeb Bush Cites His Last Name As a Qualification