GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush said Wednesday that it was "interesting' that Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton's challengers for her party's nomination didn't challenge her on her email scandal or other issues during Tuesday night's debate.
"Look, there's an FBI investigation," the former Florida governor told Fox News' "Fox and Friends" program. "She hasn't been forthcoming."
The email issue, Bush continued, is a matter of national security, even when one puts aside the legalities of whether Clinton should have used a private server while she was Secretary of State.
"It's clear that the Russians and the Chinese were trying to hack into her server," said Bush. "She was Secretary of State and there is information crossing that server was of national security interest for sure. And I would have taken her to task for that. And if she wins the nomination and I win the nomination, trust me, this is not going to end."
During the debate, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is in second place in the overall Democratic race, cut off conversation on the Clinton scandal by telling her that "the American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails."
"I don't understand it," Bush said Wednesday. "I think if she had been more forthcoming from the very beginning, maybe you could say something different. But the simple fact is, as she said last night, you know, this is the best that she can do. And the best that she can do is not be forthcoming and truthful."
Bush also had an issue with Sanders' comment that climate change is the biggest threat facing the country, even while agreeing with Clinton, who said she thinks the threat of nuclear proliferation is the most pressing issue.
"I don't think climate change ranks in the top 10 list when you consider that we have these asymmetric threats of Islamic terrorism, organized to destroy western civilization," Bush said, blaming foreign security challenges on "the weakness of the [President Barack] Obama/Clinton foreign policy."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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