Hillary Clinton Fires Back at Jeb Bush for Supporting Brother's Iraq Policies
— -- Hillary Clinton said Americans would have to be suffering from "amnesia" to believe Jeb Bush's uncharacteristic support for his brother's Iraq War policies and critique of Clinton's own handling of Iraq.
“I do think it’s a little bit surprising to hear Jeb Bush talk about this,” Clinton said Friday to a crowd of roughly 400 people at a town hall meeting in Dubuque, Iowa, while discussing Iraq. "You know, he expects the American people to have a collective case of amnesia.”
Clinton’s remark comes just one day after Bush came out in favor of many of his brother’s Iraq policies, an uncharacteristic show of support. He told voters at a campaign event in Iowa on Thursday that George W. Bush taking out Saddam Hussein “turned out to be a pretty good deal.”
Earlier this week, Bush also delivered a foreign policy speech where he blamed Clinton for the rise of ISIS and criticized her for supporting the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq and for visiting the country only once while Secretary of State.
Clinton’s foreign policy adviser, Jake Sullivan, told reporters Bush’s speech was a “pretty bold attempt to rewrite history and reassign responsibility.”
And on Friday, Clinton, who voted for the Iraq War as a Senator, but later admitted it was a mistake, fought back, saying a deal signed by George W. Bush was largely the reason the troops left the country in 2011.
Jeb Bush’s campaign quickly responded to Clinton’s claim, with a video, titled “Hillary Clinton: A Case of Amnesia,” that includes a 2011 news report discussing Clinton’s support of the removal of the troops.
Clinton, who is currently facing a new round of questions about her use of a personal email address while at the State Department, did not address her emails or take questions from reporters. Instead, she stuck to her talking points as she rolled out a new policy proposal to help students who are also parents.
Notably, Clinton did make more mentions of George W. Bush than she typically does. So much so, that at one point she even appeared to accidentally mix the two brothers up.
“When George W. Bush. Oh." Clinton said, pausing to correct herself. "I confuse. Jeb Bush."
As the audience erupted in laughter, Clinton just shrugged and said, “Oh well.”
