Republican presidential contender Carly Fiorina on Thursday slammed fellow candidate Jeb Bush, saying a misstatement he made on the campaign trail will give Democrats a talking point to use against Republicans.
“I think it’s going to become an ad,” Fiorina said in the spin room after leaving the stage for the first Fox News debate. “I think it’s going to become an ad in a Democratic campaign.”
“Hillary Clinton jumped all over it for a reason, because she saw an opportunity,” Fiorina continued, of the Democratic front-runner. “And it is foolish to say that women’s health isn’t a priority. Of course it’s a priority. We can talk later about how and where that money gets spent, but it’s Democrats who want to talk about women’s health when they talk about Planned Parenthood.”
{mosads}Speaking on Tuesday to the Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville, Tenn., Bush, who is participating in the main GOP debate Thursday, argued the next president needs to decrease federal healthcare funding.
“I’m not sure we need half a billion dollars for women’s health issues,” the former Florida governor said.
Bush immediately issued a statement saying that he “misspoke” and was referring to the $500 million Planned Parenthood gets annually from the federal government.
The Bush campaign has also sought to highlight legislation Bush signed as governor directing funds to programs for women with breast and cervical cancers and to low-income women with other illnesses.
However, Democrats, including Clinton, had already seized on the comments, calling it evidence Republicans don’t care about women’s issues.
“Unfortunately, he played into Democrats talking points,” Fiorina said in an interview Thursday on CNN. “The Democrats’ point is that the Planned Parenthood videos of late-term abortion is about women’s health. It’s about nothing of the kind. The Planned Parenthood video is about picking over babies for body parts.”
The Bush campaign has already sought to turn the tables on the misstatement, pushing Facebook ads in Iowa and New Hampshire highlighting his commitment to defunding Planned Parenthood and noting the attacks he’s absorbed from Clinton and other Democrats.