On Tuesday, the New York Times reported that Right to Rise, a super PAC set up by Jeb Bush, has produced but not yet aired a TV ad attacking Marco Rubio as unelectable because of his pro-life stance. Rubio said in an August debate that he “never advocated” for exceptions to abortion restrictions in the cases of rape or incest, even though every significant piece of pro-life legislation in Congress includes those exceptions.
Since formally declaring himself a candidate for president, it has been illegal for Bush to coordinate with the super PAC. But speaking to the press on Wednesday, Bush said: “I don’t think anybody should attack someone who’s pro-life.” Ashley Parker of the New York Times reports:
[O]n Wednesday, when asked, Mr. Bush declined to personally criticize Mr. Rubio’s hard-line stance on abortion.
“Look, I don’t think anybody should be critical of someone who’s pro-life, because I’m the most pro-life candidate on that stage,” he said, listing his various initiatives in Florida, from regulating abortion clinics and offering “Choose Life” license plates to expanding support for adoptions and funding crisis pregnancy centers. “By doing, not talking. This is the difference, again.”
Asked if he would disavow his “super PAC” should it run the abortion ad against Mr. Rubio, he said, “I don’t think anybody should attack someone who’s pro-life.”
“Look, I don’t think anybody should be critical of someone who’s pro-life, because I’m the most pro-life candidate on that stage,” he said, listing his various initiatives in Florida, from regulating abortion clinics and offering “Choose Life” license plates to expanding support for adoptions and funding crisis pregnancy centers. “By doing, not talking. This is the difference, again.”
Asked if he would disavow his “super PAC” should it run the abortion ad against Mr. Rubio, he said, “I don’t think anybody should attack someone who’s pro-life.”
