Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush attacked Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Sunday for a “disgraceful” upcoming ad criticizing his brother’s handling of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
{mosads}The Washington Post reported on Sunday that Jeb Bush was hitting back against a new campaign ad airing this week that implies the former commander in chief did not keep the nation safe during his time in the Oval Office.
The ad comes from Americans United for Change, the newspaper added, a Democratic advocacy group that predates Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
The group’s commercial reportedly attacks former president George W. Bush for endangering American lives with war, a poor economy and sprawling bureaucracy.
“It’s as if Jeb Bush believes his brother’s presidency began on September 12th, 2001,” Brad Woodhouse, president of Americans United for Change, told the Post.
“But we’re not going to let Jeb rewrite history,” Woodhouse said.
“It’s convenient but not honest to ignore the facts that the worst attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor happened on George W. Bush’s watch after dismissing warnings from U.S. intelligence weeks before 9/11 that Osama bin Laden was ‘determined to strike in [the] U.S.’ and that his terrorist network might hijack American planes,” he added.
Americans United for Change’s new ad — titled “Safe?” — refers to a remark Jeb Bush made about his brother during last week’s GOP presidential debate in Simi Valley, Calif.
“As it related to my brother, there’s one thing I know for sure — he kept us safe,” Jeb Bush said on Sept. 16. “He sent a clear signal that the United States would be strong and fight Islamic terrorism. And he did keep us safe.”
Jeb Bush has repeatedly struggled with his older brother’s legacy while seeking the Oval Office on the 2016 campaign trail.
He has particularly faced criticism for his sibling’s controversial invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the 9/11 terrorist attacks perpetrated by al Qaeda.