Think Progress

In a speech in Miami Monday formally announcing his bid for President, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush praised voters across the U.S. “who can express their love of country in a different language.”

He asked them, in Spanish, to “help us run a campaign that extends them welcome. Work with us on behalf of the values we share and for a great future that is ours to construct for ourselves and our children.”

Bush’s speech was preceded by more than an hour of introduction speeches, including one from his son George P. Bush, who told the crowd, in Spanish, “In our family we don’t just speak Spanish. We know the importance of the Latino community.” Speaking directly to the Latinos in the audience, he continued, “In this campaign, you are very valuable.”

Even over the last six months, as he “explored” a White House run, Jeb Bush has made courting the Latino vote a priority. He was one of only two likely candidates — out of a field of nearly 20 — to speak at the gathering of the nation’s largest Hispanic Evangelical organization. He’s released several videos in Spanish, praising “immigrants who arrive ready to work” and “the great contributions of the Mexican-American community to our country.”

In these ads and in speeches, he repeatedly references the influence of his wife Columba, who hails from Leon, Mexico. He even begins his biography on his official campaign website with the moment he met her, and has often called himself “bi-cultural.” His staff and advisors have sought to play up this image, enthusing to the press with remarks like, “Jeb knows what chilaquiles is” and, “A lot of people were calling him ‘Jebcito.’”

Yet on many key issues — from climate change to health care to the minimum wage — Bush’s policies are in direct contradiction to what a majority of Latino voters want.

A national poll conducted by the firm Latino Decisions found that 78 percent of US Latinos want to raise the federal minimum wage to at least $10.10 an hour — including 80 percent of Latino voters in Florida. Yet Bush has said he does not back such a raise, and wants the minimum wage to be determined by individual states, or preferably, the private sector.

Bush has also voiced skepticism on the science of climate change and said those who accept it are “arrogant.” When he has acknowledged environmental problems, he has stressed that they are less important than the economy. Meanwhile, 82 percent of Latinos said they were somewhat or very concerned that human activity is causing the earth to get warmer. 77 percent said they would support the President taking executive action through the EPA to flight climate change, and 84 percent said it was important for the federal government to take measures to reduce carbon pollution.

Though seen as his party’s “moderate” on immigration issues, Bush also has vowed to repeal President Obama’s executive actions to give some undocumented children and their parents temporary relief from deportation — a policy 89 percent of Latinos support.

That disconnect was evident at Bush’s announcement event, when a group of protesters revealed, mid-speech, shirts that spelled out letter-by-letter: “Legal status is not enough.” The phrase refers to Bush’s mixed record on backing a path to citizenship for undocumented people as a component of comprehensive immigration reform.

As the protesters were led out of the building by security, Bush called out to them, “The next president of the United States will pass meaningful immigration reform so that [problem] will be solved, not by executive order.”

Bush similarly opposes the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, though 77 percent of Latinos nationwide and 74 percent in Florida said they thought states should take federal money to expand Medicaid programs.

And while slashing taxes for the wealthy and corporations while Governor of Florida is a point of pride for Bush, one he touted in his announcement speech, Latino Decisions found that 87 percent of Latinos wanted to see tax increases on the super wealthy, including 82 percent of Latino voters in Florida. Still, Jeb Bush has been hiring economic advisers who worked on President George W. Bush’s massive tax cuts for the rich.