Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush is going after Donald Trump, calling him “abhorrent” for suggesting that Muslims in America should be registered.
“I find it abhorrent that Donald Trump is suggesting that we register people,” he said. “That haunts back to a time that no one wants to go back to.”
NBC’s Joe Kernen alluded to Trump’s comments around potentially forming such a database, referring to the past internment camps for Chinese-Americans under President Roosevelt.
“You talk about internment, you talk closing mosques, you talk about registering people, that’s just wrong,” Bush replied. “I don’t care about campaigns.”
Bush continued, alluding to Trump’s efforts to manipulate the American people for political gain.
“It’s not a question of toughness. It’s manipulating people’s angst and their fears,” Bush said. “That’s not strength. That’s weakness.”
Bush appeared outraged by Trump’s suggestions, positioning himself as a fearless defender of American values over politics.
“[T]here are things that are important as it relates to the values that we have as a country that make us special and unique and we should not and we will never abandon them in the pursuit of this fight,” he said, referring to the war on terror. “We don’t have to. We can protect our freedoms here.”