Thread: Tiny questioners grill Jeb Bush: ‘What’s a border?’

Chris Villani Wednesday, November 04, 2015

MANCHESTER, N.H. - Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush fielded some of the toughest questions of his campaign this morning in New Hampshire — posed by a field of children.

“What are you going to do about anchor babies?” a Founders Academy charter school student who appeared to be about 11 asked the former Florida governor, who is in the Granite State for a three-day campaign swing.

“Anchor babies. Wow, why are you interested in that? I’m curious” Bush said, appearing genuinely surprised by the inquiry.

“I believe the babies are attaching illegal immigrants to America, and I was just wondering how are we going to fix this problem?” the student responded.

Bush said anyone born in America is an American citizen. “That’s protected by the 14th Amendment to our Constitution. And it should be supported. We just need to make sure we enforce existing laws.”

Other children were also interested in Bush’s immigration stance — often criticized by his GOP rivals as too moderate.

“My mom wants to know what you are going to do to protect our nation’s borders,” a young girl asked.

“Protect the borders, plain and simple,” Bush replied. “Create a strategy to make sure people can’t just walk across the border. Part of that is fencing, part of that is having 20,000 border patrol agents … part of that is using GPS technology. Think about it, you have GPS technology on your phone right?”

“What’s a border?” an even younger girl inquired as a follow-up. Bush explained that the border separates countries, highlighting the fact that there are both legal and illegal ways to cross the borders. “We need to make sure people crossing illegally don’t do it,” he said.

The questions got no easier from there.

“Are you going to follow the lead of your two brothers?” asked another small boy, seemingly referring to Bush’s older brother and father — former presidents.

“My two brothers? Marvin and Neal?” Bush replied, tongue-in-cheek. “I love my brothers, but I am who I am.”

He continued: “Do you have brothers? Or sisters? Are you like them?”

The boy gave a “no way” shake of the head.

“I rest my case,” Bush said.

Another question that stumped Bush momentarily came from a girl who asked, “What’s one thing you wouldn’t change?”

Bush replied by saying there were certain elements of Obamacare he would keep — such as insurance for people with preexisting conditions or keeping children on their parents’ health insurance until age 26 — while repealing the act as a whole.

A serious-looking young man asked Bush what he is going to do about equal pay for women. Bush replied the law requires equal pay for equal work.

“If a woman is getting less money for the same job, the hammer ought to be brought down,” he said.

“My dad wants to know what you think about the other Republican candidates,” asked a little boy.

“I love them all,” Bush said to laughter. “Well, most of them. I wouldn’t say all. I don’t love all of them. They are all good people. How about that, is that better?”

As Bush answered the question, a boy in the back shouted, “Don’t let Trump win!” — though the former governor did not appear to hear him.

Not surprisingly, given the venue, a number of the questions focused on education. A young girl asked what Bush would do to make college more affordable — the governor said his plan on the subject would be out “in about three weeks.”

Asked about his goals for the presidency, Bush said sustained growth in the middle class and keeping the country safe were at the top of the list.

Amid the brief remarks and the nearly half-hour Q&A, Bush managed to work in an earnest plea to his young audience.

“If you kinda like what you see here, maybe you could ask your parents to vote for me?”

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/loc...hat_s_a_border

What a hypocrite.....Before the anchor baby comes along is the broken law of allowed to be here illegally and collect social services, jobs, drivers licenses, non citizen voting.

“I believe the babies are attaching illegal immigrants to America, and I was just wondering how are we going to fix this problem?” the student responded.

Bush said anyone born in America is an American citizen. “That’s protected by the 14th Amendment to our Constitution. And it should be supported. We just need to make sure we enforce existing laws.”