Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush says he is not ruling out a bid for the presidency in 2016, but told
NBC “Today” host Matt Lauer that a final decision is still “way off.”
“That's way off into the future,” the Republican said Monday. “I have a voice; I want to share my beliefs about how the conservative movement and the Republican Party can regain its footing, because we've lost our way.”
He agreed with Lauer that he has not yet ruled out a run. “But I won’t declare today, either,” he added.
Special: These 5 Things Flush 40 lbs. of Fat Out of Your Body.
In his appearance on “Today,” Bush focused primarily on the impact of the sequester on the economy and strategies for immigration reform.
He said there was a “lot of crying wolf” over the $85 billion in automatic spending cuts that went into effect on Friday.
“The president kind of led the charge to say that widows and orphans were going to be out on the street. So when it didn’t happen, he actually himself kind of stepped back and said it wasn't going to happen that way,” he said.
Bush also called the sequestration a “temporary problem in our history” impacting progress on immigration, which he believes could help the country's economic growth. It's an issue he addresses in his new book, “Immigration Wars.”
“This is the one place where cats and dogs seem to be getting along a little more, so I’m optimistic that there could be a consensus about going forward on immigration,” he said.
© 2013 Newsmax. All rights reserved.