Jeb Bush, who ran against Donald Trump in the 2016 Republican presidential primary, also took the opportunity to dive into the current state of American politics and the conservative movement across the country. | Matt Rourke/AP Photo Jeb Bush, in remarks about Trump and 2016: My children 'actually love me'

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush took a few swings at President Donald Trump during a lecture this week at Yale University — and said pointedly that he goes home every day to children “who actually love me."

The comments came in a discussion of the 2016 South Carolina GOP primary, which Trump won, according to a Yale Daily News report on Bush’s appearance. The paper updated its story to clarify that Bush did not directly mention the president, but Trump’s sons nonetheless took to Twitter to say they love their father.


Bush also joked that he’s still working through his 2016 presidential election experience.

“I’m not going to talk about the 2016 election,” Bush said, according to the Yale paper. “I’m still in therapy.”

But beyond those remarks, Bush made a push for more polite political discourse.

Bush, who ran against Trump in the 2016 Republican presidential primary, also took the opportunity to dive into the current state of American politics and the conservative movement across the country.

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“If there was ever need for a Bill Buckley-like approach to transforming conservatism in this country, it is right now,” Bush said, referring to the conservative author and commentator who founded National Review magazine. “Maybe not a 19th-century or a 20th-century version of conservatism, but certainly a 21st-century version of that. And sadly, the fracturing of the conservative movement could not come at a worse time."

“The 21st-century conservative agenda cannot be nostalgic about the past,” Bush added, calling for the spread of technology, greater globalization and more competition.

