DENVER (AP) – Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush called Tuesday for a stronger national defense and a consistent foreign policy but said the U.S. shouldn’t enter into another Cold War.
Speaking at an energy town hall in Denver, Bush said the U.S. should be more active in its dealings with Russia and President Vladimir Putin’s invasion into Crimea.
“I think by being engaged, Putin should look at the actions that he takes and say, ‘The risk is too high, that there is going to be a consequence that will hurt, you know, my popularity and will hurt my people.’ Right now he assesses these risks and doesn’t think that the United States is going to be engaged and acts kind of with impunity,” Bush said.
The likely presidential candidate praised hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling as an economic driver that could also give the U.S. “a national security advantage for ourselves and for the rest of the world.”
Bush was in Colorado as part of his Right to Rise initiative, which raises money for GOP leaders in battleground states. He is coming off a quarter in which he was expected to have held roughly 60 fundraisers across the country for a political action committee and super PAC, both with the name Right to Rise, as he moves closer to announcing his candidacy for president.