The White House declined to respond to a charge from Jeb Bush that President Obama is acting like a “glorified tourist” by planning a trip to Cuba at some point before his presidency ends.
During Bush’s announcement speech in Miami Monday, the former Florida governor derided Obama’s intentions to visit Havana by saying, “We don’t need a glorified tourist to go to Havana in support of a failed Cuba.”
White House press secretary Josh Earnest declined to directly comment on Bush’s statement statement, noting that he has tried to be very “disciplined” about reacting to remarks from 2016 candidates. Instead, he vigorously defended Obama’s decision to try to normalize relations with Havana, and argued that the U.S. policy with Cuba over the last five decades has “failed.”
“It didn’t bring about a government that was protecting the basic human rights that we so value in this country,” he said.
Earnest did admit that tourism of Cuba is part of the White House plan. Earnest said Obama believes in “increased commerce, increased diplomacy, and yes, increased tourism so we can empower the Cuban people to have more say in the direction of their country.”
“The president is confident that [these policy changes] will allow us to make much more progress in Cuba” than the U.S. policy of limiting trade and travel between the U.S. and Cuba, he said.
