Jeb Bush is fighting back against media claims that he views black people as people who need “free stuff,” and says he was only trying to deliver a broader message that he would promote freedom and less government intervention if he were elected president.
Bush was called out by two major press stories, including one by The New York Times last week that looked at Bush’s standing among black residents in Florida during his tenure as the state’s governor.
“Mr. Bush told a crowd in South Carolina that Republicans should not appeal to African-Americans with promises of ‘free stuff,'” the story said, under the headline, “Jeb Bush’s Remarks About Blacks Echo a Firestorm He Faced as Governor.”
The Washington Post first reported on Bush’s remarks last week with the headline, “Jeb Bush: Win black voters with aspiration, not ‘free stuff.'”
The reports are based on an answer Bush gave to a question someone asked him during a campaign event in South Carolina.
“Look around this room,” a man in the audience said to Bush. “How many black faces do you see? How are you going to include them to get them to vote for you, because I don’t think you’re going to win without them.”
The part of Bush’s answer most quoted in news reports goes: “Our message is one of hope and aspiration. It isn’t one of division and get in line and we’ll take care of you with free stuff.”
But Bush’s campaign says there was more context to Bush’s answer, which, when read in full, offers a fairly standard view of the general Republican platform rather than some specific view about black voters.
“Republicans get, you know, 4-7 percent maybe of the African-American vote for president,” Bush had said. “Those are the kind of numbers that I hear about. If you doubled that, you’re still at a low number, right? But if you double that you win elections in places like Ohio, Virginia.”
Bush went on, “And we should make that case because our message is one of hope and aspiration. It isn’t one of division and get in line and we’ll take care of you with free stuff. Our message is one that is uplifting that says you can achieve earned success. We’re on your side.”
A spokesman for the Bush campaign said those comments reflect the usual Republican point of view, which is that everyone is better served by embracing freedom instead of expanding the government’s powers further.
“Jeb was making the exact opposite point that liberals are trying to accuse him of,” the spokesman told the Washington Examiner media desk on Friday. “He said we appeal to all voters with a message of hope and aspiration. He did that in Florida and that’s why he was successful appealing to black and Hispanic voters in his gubernatorial races.”
Democrats have, however, pounced on Bush’s comments.
“Sadly Jeb Bush’s comments reflect a Republican Party that, while touting policies that benefit a select few at the very top, is falling over itself to alienate more and more Americans every single day,” said Michael Tyler, the Democratic National Committee’s director of African-American media.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said Bush’s comments were an example of “Republicans lecturing people of color instead of offering real solutions to help people get ahead, including facing up to hard truths about race and justice in America.”
