Presidential candidate Jeb Bush insisted Saturday night that he has secured the vote of a man who the Department of Veterans Affairs has declared dead, but who Bush said is most likely going to still be alive when votes are cast in November.
Bush was addressing the poor care that the Department of Veterans Affairs delivers to veterans, and said along the campaign trail, a man told him the story of how the VA declared his father to be dead, even though he was still living.
“He got a bill eight years later from an operation he had, eight years, it took, they couldn’t resolve the dispute and then he was told that he died,” Bush said at the GOP debate in New Hampshire. “Literally, the veterans administration sent a death certificate to this guy.”
“And it took nine months to clarify the guy … I met him. He’s voting for me,” Bush said to laughter. “And he is … likely to be alive.”
Bush has struggled to surface in both national and state-level polls, although he’s risen to fifth place in an average of New Hampshire polls.
Jokes aside, Bush and other candidates have had sharp criticism for the VA under President Obama’s watch. The VA was found to be manipulating data to make it appear that veterans were receiving timely care, when thousands were faced with delays of several months or even years.
The VA has refused to fire almost anyone under the scandal, which has led GOP candidates to say they’d bring accountability to the scandal-plagued department. Bush said he’d allow veterans to get care anywhere they wanted, outside the VA system.
“I totally agree that we need to give veterans more choices,” he said. “Veterans card to be able to go to a private provider will enhance the quality of the service inside the Department of Veterans Affairs.”
