Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush went after 2016 rival Ted Cruz Monday over the Texas senator’s decision to allow the National Security Agency’s collection of metadata to expire.
Appearing on both “Morning Joe” and “Fox and Friends,” Bush repeatedly went after Cruz for supporting the expiration of the NSA’s collection program, which took place on Nov. 28. The 2016 hopeful repeatedly called the program an “essential tool” to keeping Americans safe.
“I completely disagree with Ted Cruz on this. This is a part of a comprehensive strategy to protect the homeland. Civil liberties are not being violated, and to have the NSA have this information is part — an essential tool to be kept safe.”
Bush also hit Cruz over his recent comment the U.S. doesn’t have a “dog in the fight” in the Syrian civil war.
“I don’t,” Bush said when asked if he agreed with Cruz. “The fact that he doesn’t support the authorization to use military force … gives me a sense that he may not understand what this Islamic terrorist threat is all about.
“Allowing a caliphate the size of Indiana with 30-40,000 battle-tested terrorists to exist is not a civil war that we don’t have a dog in the fight for,” Bush said. “We clearly have an interest in dealing with this because their organizing principle is to destroy Western civilization. And the fact that they exist in the form of a caliphate, a nation in effect, is where they get their energy. Every day they exist is another day of victory for them to recruit more terrorists.”
With less than two weeks until the Iowa caucuses, Bush continues to have trouble gaining traction in the polls, with only 4.3 percent supporting him nationally according to the latest RealClearPoltics average. In addition, Bush sits sixth in the Washington Examiner’s latest power rankings.
