Jeb Bush, one of many presidential candidates who embraces the selfie (and the free social media advertising that comes with it), described the trend as a new fact of life, saying it’s now “the 11th amendment of the Bill of Rights.”
Asked about the effect of selfies on the campaign trail, Bush said Monday it’s become a regular part of retail politicking and offered up some tips in a freewheeling answer about the photo-taking custom.
“It is a requirement that you take one, and I do it with great joy in my heart,” he said to applause at the Forum Club, an event held in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Feeling comfortable in his home state, Bush grew a little more candid.
“I don’t know, look, it wasn’t that long ago that people wanted signatures on things, and now, forget that. ‘I want my damn Selfie. I’m not leaving until I get it.’ So we spend a lot of quality time doing that,” he quipped with his signature sarcasm.
The former Florida governor said a long arm is helpful, but if not, “I will take over.”
To the amusement of his audience, a largely older crowd, he added some other observations about the selfie culture.
“Just for the record, young people do it better than older people. It’s cooler to do it diagonally rather than straight up, remember that. And it’s better to do it higher than lower, because you look skinnier. Am I right?” he said, as the audience cheered in agreement.
Bush was also asked to name his funniest fellow candidate.
“Like funny in a good way?” he said to laughs. “I’d say the guy with the quickest wit is, uh, (former Arkansas Gov. Mike) Huckabee. He’s actually hilarious. Chris Christie is pretty funny as well — in a different kind of style. You can imagine a governor from Arkansas is slightly different than the current governor of New Jersey, but they’re both…pretty funny,” he told the host, who was asking the questions. “You thought I was going to say somebody else.”
The answer came at the light-hearted end of an event where Bush made his presidential pitch before taking questions from the audience. Bush spoke on array of topics including the South China Sea, Cuba, immigration and gun violence.
Asked whether he felt the GOP was making progress in appealing to women and minorities as it sought to do after the 2012 election loss, Bush made a not-so-veiled swipe at Donald Trump. “Some of us are,” he said, before attacking rivals who are “disparaging people” and “insulting (their) way to the presidency.”
“One particular candidate comes to mind,” he said, drawing some laughs from the crowd.
For the last question, the host brought the Bush-Trump rivalry to the surface and asked Bush what he would say to the real estate titan — who stayed not far from West Palm Beach at his Mar-a-Lago club during Christmas and whose “Trump Plaza” is within eyesight of the convention center where Bush was speaking — if he were to walk in.
“Donald, I’ll take you on one-on-one in the debate,” Bush said. “Any time, any place. You name it, I’ll do it.
With that, Bush stepped off the stage to greet members of the crowd — as well as take some selfies.