Another ill-advised ad lib from Jeb Bush, another opportunity for Democrats.

Looking to curry favor with religious conservatives at the outset of a competitive primary fight, Bush on Tuesday repeated his call to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood — and then he went even further, questioning the amount of government support for women’s health programs generally.


The Romneyesque unforced error drew a fast and furious backlash from Democrats, causing Bush to backtrack almost immediately and to acknowledge that he “misspoke.”

The controversial comment came as Bush started to acknowledge the importance of federal funding for some women’s health programs, and then stopped mid-sentence to qualify his remarks, asserting that he believes the current amount of funding is likely too much.

“I’m not sure we need half a billion dollars in funding for women’s health programs,” Bush said, before continuing with his point. “If you took dollar for dollar, there are many extraordinarily fine organizations, community health organizations that exist, federally sponsored community health organizations to provide quality care for women on a wide variety of health issues.

“But abortion should not be funded by the government, any government in my mind,” he concluded.

Bush, who told the audience that, as governor, he defunded Planned Parenthood in Florida, prefaced his comments by acknowledging that Democrats are likely to attack his comments — and the GOP’s current fight against Planned Parenthood, which gained steam after the release of several controversial videos that allegedly show organization officials talking about the sale of fetal tissue and organs.

It didn’t take long.

Less than an hour after Bush wrapped up his appearance before more than 13,000 members at a Southern Baptist convention in Nashville, Hillary Clinton tweeted directly at Bush: “You are absolutely, unequivocally wrong.”

Bush would eventually fire back at Clinton with a tweet of his own, saying, “@HillaryClinton what’s absolutely, unequivocally wrong is giving taxpayer $ to an org whose practices show no regard for lives of unborn.”

The Democratic National Committee also quickly blasted out a news release condemning Bush’s “backward ideology.”

At an organizing event in Denver on Tuesday night, Clinton slammed Bush again over his comment.

“He’s got no problem giving billions of dollars away to super wallet and powerful corporations but I guess women’s health just isn’t a priority for him,” she said to a crowd of 300 supporters.

“I would like to ask him to try telling that to the mom who caught her breast cancer early because she was able to get screening in time. Was her health not worth the money?”

As Bush knows, Democrats savaged the GOP’s 2012 nominee, Mitt Romney, for his own calls during the primary to defund Planned Parenthood.

“A few more months of this and the GOP will be wishing for a candidate with the political skills of Mitt Romney,” tweeted Dan Pfieffer, a former communications director for President Barack Obama.

Recognizing the magnitude of the blunder, Bush quickly posted an explanation on his website.

“With regards to women’s health funding broadly, I misspoke, as there are countless community health centers, rural clinics, and other women’s health organizations that need to be fully funded,” he said. “They provide critical services to all, but particularly low-income women who don’t have the access they need.

“I was referring to the hard-to-fathom $500 million in federal funding that goes to Planned Parenthood — an organization that was callously participating in the unthinkable practice of selling fetal organs. Democrats and Republicans agree we absolutely must defund them and redirect those funds to other women’s health organizations,” Bush concluded.

In talking about health care and health spending, Bush opened himself up to an examination of his record as Florida governor, when he did relatively little about the rising cost of health insurance and the spiking rates of the uninsured. The number of Floridians under age 65 who lacked insurance rose from nearly 17 percent to more than 20 percent from the time he took office in 1999 to the time he left in 2007, according to Florida and Census data. During his two terms, Medicaid rolls swelled 31 percent — from 1.6 million people to 2.1 million — and cost taxpayers $14.6 billion by the time he left office. So many people were on public assistance in Florida that more than 45 percent of all births were subsidized by Medicaid.

Bush’s record aside, the video of his Tuesday comments could be used to devastating effect in television ads against him next fall, should he become the Republican nominee.

Considered the Republican front-runner based on his overwhelming financial advantage, Bush often tells voters that his unscripted campaign style and willingness to answer questions separates him from other candidates — and it does.

But Tuesday’s comments mark the third occasion in recent weeks in which an inartfully phrased comment has sparked criticism from Democrats and put Bush on the defensive.

Last month, Bush had to explain his statement that “workers need to work longer hours,” after Democrats portrayed Bush as having said that workers are lazy; and he also had to walk back a comment about “phasing out” Medicare after it was unclear whether he was referring to the specific program or more generally to ballooning entitlements.

Just as his struggles to answer a question about the Iraq war back in May caused concern for supporters that Bush hadn’t shaken off the rust of nearly a decade away from politics, this series of gaffes may produce similar concerns just as Bush is set to take the stage for the first GOP debate in Cleveland on Thursday.

At the outset of his interview with Russell Moore, Bush laid out his belief that religious liberties can be protected without allowing discrimination toward same-sex couples — but the example he offered showed just how thin a line there may be between the two.

“If someone walks into a flower shop and says I’d like to buy some flowers and the owner of the flower shop says, ‘No, you’re gay, I’m not going to sell to you,’ that’s discrimination,” Bush said. “But if someone walks into a flower shop and says, ‘You’re the only florist around here that I believe can arrange the flowers for my wedding’ — a gay couple — you should not be compelled to participate in that wedding.

“People get that.”

Moore asked Bush about a range of topics, as he did with Marco Rubio, who appeared on stage ahead of Bush.

On the subject of homeland security, Bush subtly distanced himself from at least one element of his brother’s controversial enhanced interrogation techniques, which Moore referred to as a “moral issue” for a president.

“I think the law we have today is the proper one,” Bush said. “Water-boarding is no longer legal. I think we can, if we’re engaged and we’re fully engaged, we protect the homeland, we’re engaged in the world, we can use techniques that can validate our values as a country.”

Bush also looked to portray himself as a compassionate conservative, telling Moore that he believes racism still exists, albeit “a quieter, more insidious form of it” than during the civil rights battles of the 1960s; and, when asked how he would pray for and honor Hillary Clinton, he sought to separate political disagreements from the personal animosity that often underpins them.

“I pray for everybody in positions of leadership, for sure,” Bush said. “I think it’s important to recognize that people that you don’t agree with aren’t necessarily bad people; they just might be wrong. There should be a restoration of civility. There’s no reason to demonize people.”

Bush also made sure to respond to Moore’s characterization of his father and Bill Clinton, two of four living former presidents, as “brothers.”

“There’s a club of past presidents, there’s a mutual respect there. I admire that,” he said. “But Bill Clinton is not my stepbrother, just to be clear.”

Marc Caputo contributed to this report.