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Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Wednesday he doesn't need the kind of boots his Republican primary challenger Marco Rubio is wearing. -snip- "I've got my cowboy boots on, big Joe," Bush responded. "Do they make you three inches taller or are they just normal cowboy boots," Scarborough asked the 6'3" former governor. Some have argued that Rubio's boots were a ploy for the 5'10" senator to get a leg up. "I don't have a height issue," Bush replied.

Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush returned Thursday to his oft-used assertion that Donald Trump "is not a serious man," suggesting that Trump's plan to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants would be a financial and logistical boondoggle and ignoring the GOP frontrunner's even more controversial plan to bar all foreign Muslims from entering the United States. Speaking at a town hall meeting, the former Florida governor, who earlier this week tweeted that Trump was "unhinged," did not address the topic that has caused an outcry and dominated the news cycle all week. Instead, he chided Trump for suggesting he would deport...

Columba Bush, the wife of Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush, is playing an increasingly important role in her husband's campaign, as the former Florida governor seeks to appeal to Hispanics. The 62-year-old philanthropist is a native of León, Mexico. She met Bush in 1970 when the future governor was teaching English as a second language and assisting in the building of a school in a small village outside of the Guanajuato city. In a new video released on Monday designed to appeal to Latino voters -- a key constituency -- Columba Bush made her most expansive comments to date, the...

EXCERPT (Columba) Bush decided to continue campaigning, especially in Latino communities, where her presence and bilingual skills were highly valued. Later that year, at the Republican National Convention, she took the podium to second her father-in-law's nomination. She had prayed to the Virgin of San Juan for strength. After much prayer and thought, she would give up her Mexican citizenship to vote for George Bush. "That was a difficult decision to make because up until then I didn't see any necessity to change my citizenship. My husband wanted me to stay as a Mexican citizen, and the whole family has...

In a new ad aimed at Hispanic voters – and quite possibly English language advocates Sarah Palin and Donald Trump – Jeb Bush crusades for the presidency in Spanish and rolls out his "secret weapon" – his wife, Columba. After Palin and Trump criticized Bush for speaking Spanish on the campaign trail – with Palin suggesting that the GOP candidate "speak American" while in the U.S. – Bush released the bilingual ad declaring Hispanics "an integral part of the American dream." "The United States of America is a great country," Bush says in Spanish. "Thanks to the people that come...

Jeb Bush’s new Spanish-language campaign ad sidelines America’s unifying patriotism in favor of repeated praise for post-American multi-cultural diversity and praise for Latino culture brought by migrants, an expert says. “The ad is was post-patriotism, post-American… [when] it could have been a mix talking about [the value of] assimilation,” says John Fonte, the director of the Center for American Common Culture at the D.C.-based Hudson Institute. “It has nothing to do with being an American,” he added. The one-minute ad begins with an American flag, but it is quickly dominated by appeals to Latino culture. “For me, Hispanic culture is...

Gov. Jeb Bush has released a Spanish-language Internet ad, in which his Mexican-born wife makes her first appearance of the campaign to deliver a halting, accented and simple English pitch, while he speaks happily in confident Spanish. Columba Bush rarely speaks in public, and English is not her native language. She was born in Mexico, and moved to the United States with Jeb Bush. Her 15-second scripted comments are very simple. “I have lived more than half my life here. So, you know, I agree that we all have the same interests, the same feelings. We go to church every...

Jeb Bush is deploying his "secret weapon" in a new video designed to appeal to Hispanic voters. A new video released by the campaign Monday shows Bush speaking in Spanish and his wife, Columba Bush, speaking in English in her most expansive comments to date on her husband's behalf. Entirely in Spanish, the candidate says: "The United States of America is a great country. Thanks to the people that come from all over the world, contributing to our economy and community. To me, Hispanic culture is very important and positive." His wife, who was born in Mexico, adds in English:...

Laura Bush is hitting the fundraising circuit to help reinvigorate her brother-in-law’s presidential campaign. The former first lady is scheduled to host a pair of fundraisers to benefit former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush next month in the Sunshine State, Bloomberg reported. On Oct. 6, Laura Bush will host a group of donors in suburban Orlando. The next day, she’ll jointly host a second event in Palm Beach with Columba Bush, Jeb's wife. The former two-term Republican governor has tried not to tie himself too closely to his brother former President George W. Bush’s administration. But in recent days, Bush has...

Jeb Bush will deliver a keynote address at the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s annual convention later this year, the group said Monday. The announcement came as Democratic candidates spoke at the annual gathering of the National Council of La Raza in Kansas City and as the GOP tries to find its footing with Latino voters after a 2012 election defeat and controversial comments by one of its most vocal 2016 hopefuls. The convention, taking place in Houston in September, is the country’s largest assembly of Hispanic business and community leaders. Organizers expect more than 7,000 attendees.

Bush team lays out new plans to entice donors to pony up more cash. On the list: Cocktails with Columba. Less than 24 hours after Jeb Bush revealed an unprecedented war chest, he and his top campaign staffers gathered donors at the family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, to let them know that $114 million is not enough. This weekend’s invitation wasn’t just a reward for the roughly 200 major donors who helped Bush amass a just-announced record fundraising haul — although, as one attendee said, “there was lots of high-fiving.” It was a reminder that, with the Iowa caucuses still...

TAMRON HALL, MSNBC: By all accounts for the Republicans to win this general election, you need 40% of the Hispanic vote. I know Kristen [Welker] said immigration would be a major headline in the debates. I think we always expected that. But the tone, it seems, for your party is being heavily set by Donald Trump and how he's choosing to handle immigration. I want to play for you a brand new interview with Donald Trump. Our own reporter just spoke with him and here's what he said about crime and Mexicans... JOHN FEEHERY, GOP STRATEGIST: Well, listen, I think...

Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton accuse each other of flip-flopping on immigration — and they’re both right. Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton on Tuesday accused each other of flip-flopping on immigration. Both of them are right. The barbs traded between the Republican and Democratic front-runners previewed the partisan warfare to come and showed yet again that one of the most emotionally charged, unresolved issues of the Barack Obama era will be a dominant factor in next year's presidential campaign. Immigration remains a rallying cry for Democrats, particularly Latinos upset that President Obama and Congress have so far failed to strike...

Mitt Romney‘s seemingly nonstop hospitality tour of the 2016 presidential field took him to Maine on Monday. After hosting Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and their families at his home in New Hampshire over the weekend, Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann, dined with Jeb Bush and his wife, Columba, in Kennebunkport, Me. The meal was at Walkers Point, the home where Mr. Bush’s mother and father, George H.W and Barbara Bush, reside. Both the former president and first lady attended the Romney luncheon, which was in the dining room of the main...

Some influential Republicans remain skeptical that the party must tap a presidential candidate with strong appeal to Latino voters or that Jeb Bush is that person, leaving them unwilling for now to embrace the former Florida governor. While GOP candidate and businessman Donald Trump has made controversial comments about Mexican-Americans since he entered the 2016 race, Bush has repeatedly highlighted his connections to the Latino community and praised the influence of immigrants on American culture. He speaks Spanish frequently on the campaign trail, constantly discusses the importance of Republicans reaching beyond the party's base of white voters and attends events...

Donald Trump appears to have deleted a tweet he quoted that made questionable comments about Jeb Bush and his wife. On July 4th, Trump quoted another users tweet which claimed to know why Bush likes “Mexican illegals.” The tweet appeared to be live for 24 hours before Trump deleted it. Bush’s wife, Columbia, is Mexican. Bush responded to Trump’s comments about Mexican immigrants being rapists and drug lords over the weekend. “I don’t think he represents the Republican Party, and his views are way out of the mainstream of what most Republicans think.”

A feud is growing between Jeb Bush and Donald Trump in the 2016 Republican presidential campaign. Bush, the former governor of Florida who leads in some polls for the GOP nomination, said he "absolutely" took personal offense when billionaire Trump described Mexican immigrants as criminals and labeled some as "rapists." Bush, whose wife comes from Mexico, told reporters in Merrimack, New Hampshire, that Trump's views are "way out of the mainstream" of the GOP. "To make these extraordinarily ugly kind of comments is not reflective of the Republican party," Bush said Saturday. "...He's doing this to inflame and incite and...

Five-time deportee, seven time convicted felon Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez said in a new interview Sunday with a local ABC News affiliate that he came to San Francisco because he knew the sanctuary city would not hand him over to immigration officials. Lopez-Sanchez has confessed to shooting Kathryn Steinle last Wednesday at Pier 14. Had San Francisco police not refused a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer request, Lopez-Sanchez may not have been in the United States and Steinle might still be alive. “Did you shoot Kate Steinle, the lady who was down at Pier 14?” an ABC7 News reporter...

In an interview you'll see only on ABC7 News, the man accused of shooting and killing a young woman at San Francisco's Pier 14 admitted to the crime and talked about where he got the gun. Francisco Sanchez didn't recall every detail because he says he doesn't remember everything that happened. But in the 45 minute jailhouse interview, he revealed how the shooting went down and why he kept returning to the United States after being deported numerous times. Barnard: "Did you shoot Kate Steinle, the lady who was down at Pier 14." Sanchez: "Yes." Barnard: "You did shoot her?"...

Jeb Bush, Married To Mexican, Denounces Donald Trump, Takes 'Ugly' Remarks About Immigrants Personally. Donald Trump's recent comments about Mexicans, which have offended a broad range of Latin American society, from celebrities to television channels, did not sit well with Jeb Bush. In fact, the former Florida governor and one of Trump's many fellow contenders for the 2016 Republican nomination for president took those remarks somewhat personally. "He’s doing this to inflame and incite and to draw attention, which seems to be the organizing principle of his campaign,” Bush told the New York Times while in New Hampshire Saturday. And...