Jeb Bush confronts Donald Trump: The Middle East isn't 'Monopoly'
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) criticized fellow GOP hopeful Donald Trump's foreign policy during Tuesday night's Fox Business debate, comparing it to a "board game."
"Donald is wrong on this. He is absolutely wrong on this. We're not going to be the world's policemen. But we sure as heck better be the world's leader," Bush said.
"There's a huge difference. Without us leading, voids are filled. And the idea that it's a good idea for Putin to be in Syria, let ISIS take out Assad, and then Putin will take out ISIS — that's like board game. That's like playing 'Monopoly' or something. That's not how the real world works."
The discussion during the last hour of the debate turned heavily to foreign policy. Trump, touting his appearance on a "60 Minutes" episode that had also featured Russian President Vladimir Putin, suggested he would be OK with Russia taking the lead in Syria. Russia has been conducting airstrikes for more than a month in Syria — mainly against rebels fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
"If Putin wants to go in, knock the hell out of ISIS. I am all for it, 100%. And I can't understand how anybody would be against it," Trump said to begin his back-and-forth with Bush.
Bush then tried to jump into the conversation but Trump raised his finger and told him to wait while he finished.
"We have to get smart. We can't continue to be the policeman of the world. We owe $19 trillion. We have a country that's going to hell," Trump continued. "We have to start investing money in our country."
Trump insisted that the US military doesn't know who the anti-Assad rebels really are so it'd be a mistake to back them.
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