Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, infamously labeled as “low energy” by Donald Trump, tried swiping at Trump, but ended up accidentally taking a swing at his good friend, former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour.
“What Trump did, it’s so insensitive. First, not all Latinos are Mexican. Second, not all Hispanics eat tacos. Thirdly, a taco bowl is an American dish. And fourth, if you’re laying next to what he said earlier about Latinos, it’s an insult. It’s like sitting behind a watermelon, and saying: I love African Americans!”
Bush may not have wanted to use that analogy, which actually could be interpreted as a veiled reference to Barbour’s infamous comment back in 1982–when he was quoted in response to an aide’s racist comment saying that the aide “would be reincarnated as a watermelon and placed at the mercy of blacks.”
Haley Barbour, who is know for his outlandish statements, has gotten in trouble many times. He once remarked about former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell’s proclamation of Confederate History Month lacking a reference to slavery: “To me, it’s a sort of feeling that it’s a nit, that it is not significant.”
Bush and Barbour has been friends and political allies for years. They have worked together on many occasions, including most notably their joint push to get a large scale amnesty passed through the Congress. In 2013, both Barbour and Bush spoke on a panel together at the Bipartisan Policy Center–and they argued that amnesty was necessary for the country.
Throughout the panel discussion with Barbour, ironically enough, Bush was constantly referring to how America’s greatness needed restoration. “How do we restore our greatness as a nation? With sustained economic growth,” Bush said. That theme, of course, would eventually become Trump’s winning campaign slogan: “Make America Great Again.”