The mascot of the Republican party is an elephant, but Jeb Bush would like you to associate him with a smaller and slower animal - the turtle.

At a campaign event in New Hampshire on Wednesday, the former Florida governor gifted a 13-year-old boy named Zacharie a tiny turtle, which he apparently keeps in his pocket for such occasions.

He then told the teen 'slow and steady wins the race' - an allusion to the children's tale of the tortoise and the hare.

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Token turtle: Zacharie, 13, received a toy turtle from Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush, during a campaign stop in New Hampshire on Wednesday

The tortoise and the hare: After giving the token to the boy, Jeb Bush told Zacharie 'slow and steady wins the race'

In the popular fable, a rabbit and a turtle compete in a race. The hare has more technical ability than the tortoise, but gets overconfident and tires early, leaving the more consistent tortoise to cross the finish line first.

ABC reporter Candace Smith posted a picture of Zacharie and his turtle to her Twitter Wednesday morning.

When he gave the toy turtle to Zacharie on Wednesday, Bush said: 'I got the little baby Jesus, I got my rosary beads, and I got three turtles'.

'We talked mostly about NASA and how he could reboot it and maybe have a new space program of some sort,' Zacharie said, according to ABC. 'I'm kind of a science nerd and apparently he is too.'

This isn't the first time that Bush has compared himself to a creature that hides in its shell when spooked.

While giving a speech in Florida in July, he said he was a 'joyful tortoise'.

'I got the little baby Jesus, I got my rosary beads, and I got three turtles,' Bush said, when he showed the contents of his pockets

'I’m not a grievance candidate. I’m the tortoise in the race - but I’m a joyful tortoise,' he said, according to the Miami Herald.

The following month, he posted a picture of a tortoise he saw while visiting the Reagan Library to his Instagram.

Bush apparently seems to be comparing the Tortoise and the Hare fable to the Republican race, with himself as the tortoise and front-runner Donald Trump as the hare.

It's perhaps comical, too, that Trump's main criticism of Bush throughout the race is that he is 'low energy'.

But the reference is strange in that the roles could easily be reversed. Before Trump entered the race, Bush was favored to be the nominee but his support quickly petered out, despite amassing millions in campaign contributions through his family's connections within the party.

Currently, Bush is polling in sixth place behind Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz, Sen. Marco Rubio, Dr Ben Carson and Gov. Chris Christie, according to Real Clear Politics.