Jeb Bush on Friday gave sharp criticism of the nuclear deal with Iran, but said he wouldn’t immediately kill the agreement on his first day in office if he becomes the next president.
The former Florida governor told an audience at a campaign event in Carson City, Nevada, that he’d take a more pragmatic approach by consulting with his Cabinet and allies before scratching the nuclear agreement altogether.
“One thing I won’t do is just say as a candidate: ‘I’m just going to tear up the agreement on the first day.’ That sounds great, but maybe you ought to check in with your allies first. Maybe you ought to appoint a secretary of state, maybe a secretary of defense,” he said. “You might want to have your team in place before you take an act like that.”
Bush added: “If you’re running for president, I think it’s important to be mature and thoughtful about this,” he told reporters after his town hall.
Bush’s comments break from a pledge that some of his Republican rivals have already made.
Hitting the campaign trail as a fresh presidential candidate, Scott Walker repeatedly said this week that he would “terminate” the deal with Iran on his first day in office. That builds on comments made by other candidates, like former Gov. Rick Perry, who told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that he would “put sanctions back in place” on Day One as president.
Carly Fiorina has said that one of her first two phone calls in office would be to the Supreme Leader of Iran, saying there would be a new deal. “And while he may not take the phone call, he will get the message. And the message is, ‘I don’t care what the deal is,'” she told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. “Here is the new deal.”
For his part, Bush said Friday he’s “deeply worried” about the agreement and argued that he wouldn’t have begun to negotiate with Iran in the first place. He blasted President Barack Obama for giving too many concessions, saying, “every aspect of this deal, I think, headed south.”