Jeb Bush participated in a question-and-answer session with Fox News host Sean Hannity at the Conservative Political Action Conference Friday during which he defended his positions on immigration and Common Core for which he has received criticism in the conservative community.
On the immigration issue, Bush emphasized the need to “first and foremost” secure America’s southern border, yet he ruled out the idea of deporting all undocumented immigrants that are currently in the United States.
“There is no path to deporting 11 million people,” Bush said.
The former governor of Florida skewered President Obama for his executive action on immigration, alleging that Obama went “way beyond his constitutional powers.”
Bush also said he would not support a vote against Department of Homeland Security legislation to defund Obama’s executive amnesty, but he insisted, “I’m not an expert on the ways of Washington.”
When questioned about his support for the Common Core state education standards, Bush explained the need for state standards to prepare America’s youth for college and adult career life.
“Our standards have to be high enough where a student going through our system is college- or career-ready, and that’s not what’s happening right now,” Bush said.
However, he described himself as “deeply concerned” about the federal government’s intrusion in the development of such standards.
Like many other potential GOP presidential candidates speaking at CPAC, Bush turned his attention to the Islamic terrorists in the Middle East and stressed the need for our nation’s leader to “put ISIS in a noose and knock ’em out.”
He also said that boots on the ground should not be ruled out of the ISIS strategy, but that the primary foreign policy focus should be put on “re-engaging with the neighborhood.”
“We need to re-establish relationships with countries we have managed to mess up,” Bush declared.
Moreover, Bush expressed his grave disapproval of Obama’s refusal to identify ISIS as radical Islamic terrorists, an action that has sparked much criticism of the president in recent weeks.
“This total misunderstanding of what this Islamic terrorist threat is is very dangerous because it doesn’t allow you to have the right strategy to deal with this,” explained Bush.
Looking ahead to 2016, the likely Republican presidential candidate communicated the need for conservatives “to start being for things again” in addition to fighting against the overreach in Washington.
“It’s good to oppose the bad things, but we need to start being for things,” Bush said.
“If we share our enthusiasm and love for our country … we will be able to get Latinos and young people and other people [to support the party],” he added.
