--- title: Donald Trump: Jeb Bush Criticizes 'Insensitive' Taco Tweet description: Jeb Bush criticized Donald Trump's Cinco de Mayo tweet in a new interview published Tuesday, saying it was "insensitive" canonical: https://time.com/4338730/jeb-bush-donald-trump-cinco-de-mayo-tweet/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-17T17:12:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:46:09.654Z article:section: Politics og:title: Jeb Bush Criticizes Donald Trump's 'Insensitive' Taco Bowl Tweet og:description: "It’s like eating a watermelon and saying ‘I love African-Americans.’” og:url: https://time.com/4338730/jeb-bush-donald-trump-cinco-de-mayo-tweet/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1dd580d2a08f0cc2/698893780a4a225e499c9b03/jeb-bush.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5197 og:image:height: 2923 og:image:alt: Jeb Bush Campaigns With Mother Barbara Bush One Day Before SC Primary og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Jeb Bush Criticizes Donald Trump's 'Insensitive' Taco Bowl Tweet twitter:description: "It’s like eating a watermelon and saying ‘I love African-Americans.’” twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1dd580d2a08f0cc2/698893780a4a225e499c9b03/jeb-bush.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Jeb Bush Criticizes Donald Trump's 'Insensitive' Taco Bowl Tweet > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly May 17, 2016 5:12 PM UTC  Former Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush addresses the crowd at a campaign rally on Feb. 19, 2016 in Greenville, South Carolina. Former Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush addresses the crowd at a campaign rally on Feb. 19, 2016 in Greenville, South Carolina. Sean Rayford/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly May 17, 2016 5:12 PM UTC Former Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush criticized [Donald Trump’s Cinco de Mayo tweet](http://time.com/4320045/donald-trump-hispanics-tweet-taco-bowl-cinco-de-mayo/) in a [new interview published Tuesday](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jeb-bush-trump-cinco-de-mayo%5Fus%5F573b2849e4b077d4d6f4086d), arguing that it was akin to “eating a watermelon and saying ‘I love African-Americans.’” In the [tweet](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/728297587418247168?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw), Trump posted a picture of himself eating a taco bowl and wrote, “I love Hispanics!” His rhetoric about illegal immigration throughout his campaign has [made him unpopular](http://time.com/4303895/trump-latino-vote-poll/) among Hispanic voters. Bush, whose wife is from Mexico, is the former governor of Florida, which has a large Hispanic population. In the interview this weekend with Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad, the complete transcript of which was provided to the _Huffington Post_, Bush called Trump’s tweet “insensitive” and said he is “uncertain” if the Republican party will survive now that Trump is the presumptive GOP nominee. “First, not all Hispanics are Mexican,” Bush said in the interview. “Secondly, not all Hispanics eat tacos. Thirdly, showing your sensitivity by eating an American dish is the most insensitive thing you can do. Fourthly, to say this, next to all things he already said, is a further insult. It’s like eating a watermelon and saying ‘I love African-Americans.’” Trump defended the tweet in interviews after he posted it. “I had 59,000 retweets—59,000 in a short period,” he [said on Fox News](https://twitter.com/foxandfriends/status/728550249912934400). “People loved it, and you know what? I’m going to do great with the Hispanics.” Bush, who [ended his presidential bid](http://time.com/4231664/jeb-bush-drops-out-president/) in February and [endorsed Ted Cruz](http://time.com/4268888/jeb-bush-endorses-ted-cruz/) in March, has been vocal about his disapproval of Trump. His father and brother, both former presidents, [have also said they won’t endorse](http://time.com/4318875/george-jeb-bush-donald-trump-endorse/) the businessman. “This guy,” Bush said. “If we lose in November, we Republicans have ourselves to blame.” > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/728297587418247168) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4338730/jeb-bush-donald-trump-cinco-de-mayo-tweet/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4338730/jeb-bush-donald-trump-cinco-de-mayo-tweet/"},"headline":"Jeb Bush Criticizes Donald Trump's 'Insensitive' Taco Bowl Tweet","datePublished":"2016-05-17T17:12:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:46:09.654Z","description":"\"It’s like eating a watermelon and saying ‘I love African-Americans'\"","url":"https://time.com/4338730/jeb-bush-donald-trump-cinco-de-mayo-tweet/","keywords":["jeb bush","2016 Election","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1dd580d2a08f0cc2/698893780a4a225e499c9b03/jeb-bush.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1dd580d2a08f0cc2/698893780a4a225e499c9b03/jeb-bush.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Jeb Bush Campaigns With Mother Barbara Bush One Day Before SC Primary","caption":"Jeb Bush Campaigns With Mother Barbara Bush One Day Before SC Primary","creditText":"Sean Rayford/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/jeb-bush/","name":"jeb bush"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4338730/jeb-bush-donald-trump-cinco-de-mayo-tweet/","name":"Jeb Bush Criticizes Donald Trump's 'Insensitive' Taco Bowl Tweet"}}]}] ```