Jeb Bush said that he would have invaded Iraq in 2003 just as his brother former President George W. Bush did — and Hillary Clinton would have, too, the ex-Florida governor said.
“I would have [authorized the invasion], and so would have Hillary Clinton, just to remind everybody. And so would almost everybody that was confronted with the intelligence they got,” the likely GOP presidential candidate said in an interview with Fox News’ Megyn Kelly, which will air Monday.
Bush said the United States erred in not establishing security for Iraqi families after the initial invasion, a point his ex-president brother agrees with him on. That failure, Jeb said, resulted in backlash from Iraqis against the U.S. military.
On immigration, Bush told Kelly that he thought immigration laws need to be changed in order to make it easier for some people to become legal citizens.
“There’s got to be a point where we fix this system so that legal immigration is easier than illegal immigration and show some respect for people,” he said, adding that to “a kid that might have been here 10 years, that might be a valedictorian of their high school, to say, ‘No, no, no, you’re not allowed to go to college,’ I just think there’s a point passed which we’re over the line. ”
Bush said he didn’t think that stance would cost him support from more conservative voters in the event he runs for president, saying he wouldn’t change his position to win primary voters.
Early polling suggests Bush’s immigration views could harm him when it comes to winning support from the GOP’s conservative wing. Forty-one percent of likely New Hampshire GOP primary voters said Bush’s belief that some illegal immigrants should be allowed to stay in the U.S. legally was a “deal killer,” according to a February Bloomberg Politics/St. Anselm College poll.
“If I go beyond the consideration of running to be an actual candidate, do you want people to just bend with the wind, to mirror people’s sentiment whoever is in front of you? ‘Oh, yes, I used to be for that but now, I’m for this.’ Is that the way we want to elect presidents?” Bush asked.
