--- title: Jeb Bush Should Say ‘No’ to Torture description: This is an issue that transcends politics canonical: https://time.com/3998896/jeb-bush-should-say-no-to-torture/ author: Christopher Hale article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-14T21:09:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:06:35.974Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Jeb Bush Should Say ‘No’ to Torture og:description: This is an issue that transcends politics og:url: https://time.com/3998896/jeb-bush-should-say-no-to-torture/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb29ae00b1ade8c2e/69885f36e20a87024da8cbd7/jeb-bush4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5184 og:image:height: 2916 og:image:alt: Republican presidential candidate former Fla. Gov. Jeb Bush speaks during a forum sponsored by Americans for Peace, Prosperity and Security at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa on Aug. 13, 2015. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Jeb Bush Should Say ‘No’ to Torture twitter:description: This is an issue that transcends politics twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb29ae00b1ade8c2e/69885f36e20a87024da8cbd7/jeb-bush4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Jeb Bush Should Say ‘No’ to Torture > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Inside TIME: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Inside TIME is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ## Video: See Jeb Bush's Political Career Through the Years [Watch (HLS stream): See Jeb Bush's Political Career Through the Years](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/3nRIB78f.m3u8) (2:37)  _Published 2015-06-12. From his unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign in 1994 through his decision to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, here are some of the top moments from Jeb Bush's political career._ by [Christopher Hale](https://time.com/author/christopher-j-hale-2/) ## Christopher Hale Aug 14, 2015 9:09 PM UTC  Republican presidential candidate former Fla. Gov. Jeb Bush speaks during a forum sponsored by Americans for Peace, Prosperity and Security at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa on Aug. 13, 2015. Republican presidential candidate former Fla. Gov. Jeb Bush speaks during a forum sponsored by Americans for Peace, Prosperity and Security at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa on Aug. 13, 2015. Charlie Neibergall—AP by [Christopher Hale](https://time.com/author/christopher-j-hale-2/) ## Christopher Hale Aug 14, 2015 9:09 PM UTC On Thursday, Jeb Bush refused to rule out the practice of [torture](http://time.com/3998483/jeb-bush-republicans-torture/) if he were elected president. This was a departure from his [remarks](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/us-politics/11679928/No-sign-of-George-W-Bush-as-Jeb-Bush-announces-his-candidacy.html) earlier this year when he said that his brother George W. Bush’s torture program was no longer necessary. Bush’s indication that he would be open to using torture puts the 62-year-old Catholic convert at odds with Pope Francis, who has called for the universal abolition of torture, which [he says](http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2014/u-n-official-panels-address-issue-of-torture-at-washington-conference.cfm) is a “very grave sin.” This isn’t Bush’s first public disagreement with Francis this summer. In June he said that Francis shouldn’t get too involved in the global climate change discussion because it risked politicizing religion. “I hope I’m not going to get castigated for saying this by my priest back home,” [Bush said](http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/jeb-bush-knocks-pope-on-climate-change-push-119084.html) about Francis’s groundbreaking June 19 climate change encyclical letter. “But I don’t get economic policy from my bishops or my cardinals or my pope.” (Bush [sang](http://time.com/3924287/pope-francis-climate-change/) from a different hymnal just six years earlier: “As a public leader, one’s faith should guide you.”) Bush’s disagreement with Francis on climate change wasn’t surprising, but his dissent on torture is. Bush has built much of his political career around his pro-life bonafides. Most notable was his decision to intervene in [the case of Terri Schiavo,](http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/bioethicist-tk-n333536) a Florida woman whose final years in a vegetative state stirred up a national conversation about the rights of persons who are incapacitated and when and how their lives should end if they leave behind no directives. At the time, [Bush called the Schiavo case](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/01/us/schiavo-dies-ending-bitter-case-over-feeding-tube.html) “the toughest issue” in his political career and one that “transcends politics and policies.” Couldn’t one say the same of torture? Bush should consider [the words of Arizona Senator John McCain](http://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2014/12/floor-statement-by-sen-mccain-on-senate-intelligence-committee-report-on-cia-interrogation-methods) last December, who was a victim of torture during his time as a prisoner of war in Vietnam: --- > “” --- _Conscience_. This explains why Barack Obama [banned](http://www.newsweek.com/obamas-order-ends-bush-era-interrogation-tactics-77965) forms of interrogation torture in 2009\. And this must be the reason that Jeb Bush says ‘no’ to the practice today. In the [Gospel of Matthew,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew%5F5:44) Jesus tells us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us. In a post-9/11 world where violence, terrorism, and war run rampant, such ideas perhaps seem a bit Pollyannaish. So if that doesn’t compel Bush to reconsider, perhaps this does: [Torture doesn’t work](http://theweek.com/articles/441396/why-torture-doesnt-work-definitive-guide). As a man who [promises](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-jeb-bush-president-campaign-20150615-story.html) to take Washington “out of the business of causing problems,” surely he can see continuing a ban on the ineffective and immoral practice of torture is a perfect way to help fulfill that lofty ideal. ## Transcript The younger Bush brother did not make the governor's chair in Florida. The older Bush brother, George W. Bush, did make it in Texas. This is a mixed night for the Bush family. I know we can do better. It requires a new style of leadership, commitment to service to others, and an ability to bring people together rather than divide I wanna be the governor that leads us there. And in Florida, Jeb Bush, 56 to 44 over Buddy MacKay, the Democratic candidate. My brother said in one of his speeches, my brother said he's gonna deliver Florida. [ LAUGH ] He did say That he said it more than once. Will he deliver it? He also told it was going to be a cold Thanksgiving dinner if I don't help him out, and then we're going to carry it. We could be in for a long night as voters decide whether Vice President Al Gore or Texas Governor George Bush will be the next president of the United States. It is that close. ABC News is now going to project that Florida goes to Mr. Bush. While the closest elections in American history Bush has won it. The rigor of the common core state standards must be the new minimum in classrooms. And so for those states that are choosing a path other than common core I say this. You should be aiming even higher. And be bolder and raise standards and ask more for our students and the system. The simple fact is there is no plan to deport 11 Million people. We should give them a path to legal status. Where they work, where they don't receive government benefits, where they don't break the law, where they learn English, and where they make a contribution to our society. Knowing what we know now, would you have authorized the invasion? I would of and so would of Hillary Clinton. Just to remind everybody and so would of almost everybody that was confronted with the intelligence they got. By the way guess who thinks that those mistakes took place as well. George W. Bush. Your brother. Yeah. I mean so just for the news flash to the world that they're trying to find places that there's big space between me and my brother, this might not be one of those. I'm running for president in 2016, and the focus is going to be about how we, if I run, how do you create high sustained economic growth where more people have a chance at our success. I don't know if I'd be a good candidate or a bad one. Kinda know how a Republican can win, whether it's me or somebody else. And it has to be much more uplifting, much more positive, much more willing to be practical now in the Washington world. Lose the primary to win the general. 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