On June 15, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush officially announced in Miami that he is a candidate for president in 2016. During his half-hour announcement speech, Bush made his case for why he believes he's the best choice for the country. He used examples from his time in office to support his position.
On the same day, the women's advocacy group Ultraviolet posted an image to their Facebook page that contained "5 things you should know about Jeb Bush." Here's what they posted:
- Appointed a guardian for the fetus of a rape survivor
- Signed into law a bill requiring single moms to publish their sexual history
- Hired a staffer who publicly called women "sluts"
- Said low-income women should "get their life together and find a husband"
- Used taxpayer money to promote anti-abortion groups
PolitiFact Florida saw the post on Ultraviolet's Facebook page and took a look at all five of those claims. For this article, we'll take a look at the fourth claim about low-income women getting their lives together and finding husbands. PolitiFact reporter Joshua Gillin says that Ultraviolet's claim rates MOSTLY TRUE.
"We went back to the archives to see if Jeb Bush had said this," said Gillin. "Jeb Bush did, in fact, say this back in 1994 when he was running for governor against Lawton Chiles. Bush was referring to the welfare program "Aid to Families With Dependent Children," and he was proposing a two-year limit on certain benefits from that, and during those two years, he said, there should be plenty of time to get several things done, such as find a job and, for women, find a husband."
Gillin noted that when Bush was asked to clarify his statement, Bush dug his heels in. "When asked about it later on, Bush doubled down and said that the statistics showed that most of the people on the program were single mothers," Gillin said.
Gillin points out that the rating is marked down a notch because of the age of the statement. "Keep in mind that this statement dates back to 1994," said Gillin. "UltraViolet is presenting these statements in a 2016 campaign season, which is 22 years later than when this particular statement was made. It's not that it's not true or that he didn't say it, but it's not a recent statement, or even one that he made after he became governor in 1998."
Even though Bush made the claim and it was cited accurately by UltraViolet, the claim is marked down a step because of the age of the claim, which receives a MOSTLY TRUE rating by Politifact.
SOURCES: Jeb Bush told welfare women to get husbands?
- PolitiFact ruling
- Ultraviolet (via Facebook), "5 things you should know about Jeb Bush," June 15, 2015
- Huffington Post, "Jeb Bush In 1995: Unwed Mothers Should Be Publicly Shamed," June 9, 2015
- CNN, "Jeb Bush to women on welfare in 1994: 'Get a husband'," June 11, 2015
- CNN, "Jeb Bush: 'I'm not in favor of shaming women'," June 17, 2015
- Miami Herald, "What Bush said," Sept. 7, 1994, accessed via Nexis on June 24, 2015
- Miami Herald, "4 rivals all bash Bush," Sept. 7, 1994, accessed via Nexis on June 24, 2015
- Orlando Sentinel, "Smith rips Bush’s ‘find a husband’ tip for women on welfare," Sept. 7, 1994, accessed via Nexis on June 24, 2015
- Interview with Brett Abrams, Ultraviolet spokesman, June 22, 2015
- Interview with Allie Brandenburger, Jeb Bush spokeswoman, June 23, 2015