Republican candidate for US presidency says former president ‘should have brought the hammer down’ on congress’s spending

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

The Republican US presidential hopeful Jeb Bush differentiated himself from his brother, the former president George W Bush, on Wednesday night by saying he was more conservative.



On the first episode of the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Bush was asked to name one issue where he disagreed his brother, whose administration was marked by controversy.

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The former Florida governor said the key area he disagreed with his brother on was spending. In his opinion, George W Bush did not “control the Republican Congress’s spending” while he was in office and “should have brought the hammer down”.

Colbert’s question came in the midst of what was otherwise a very friendly, softball interview with Bush, who is third in national polls behind both Donald Trump and Ben Carson.

The late night talk show host even told Bush: “There is a non-zero chance I would vote for you – you seem like a very reasonable guy.”

The interview started with Bush being asked why he wanted to be president. He then launched into his stump speech, saying: “Because I think we’re on the verge of the greatest time to be alive but our government isn’t working.”

He also took pains to strike a moderate tone to the national audience, telling Colbert: “I don’t think Barack Obama has bad motives, I just think he’s wrong on a lot of issues.

“If you start with the premise that people have good motives, you can find common ground.”

Bush also talked about his campaign logo. He thinks the logo, which consists of his first name followed by an exclamation mark, “connotes excitement”.