Jeb Bush urges removal of toxicity from U.S. politics

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who now heads a private investment firm based in Coral Gables, appeared before the midyear meeting of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance on Friday and urged a halt to toxic politics in America.

Bush, a Republican who served as governor between 1999 and 2007, and who dropped out of a bitterly contested primary campaign that ended in victory for the roughhewn President Donald J. Trump in 2016, said both major political parties are obliged to call out elected officials who use bullying and vulgarities to get ahead.

He did not name Trump. But he said the today’s political dialog on TV and social media is tough to consume.

Vulgarity, he said, may draw bigger followings on Twitter, but “that is not a strength, that’s a sign of weakness.” He said voters should “penalize” those who are vulgar and toxic.

“We have the duty to cast out the ugliness. and it’s up to the [political] parties to be able to that,” he said.

The theme is a familiar one for Bush, who made it front and center during the GOP presidential primary nearly seven years ago and has continued to promote it since he left public life.

“Let’s recognize that politics is a mirror of us,” he told an audience of more than 600 public officials and businesspeople at the Seminole hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood. “It’s a byproduct of our culture …. If we want a better system we need to treat people better. We need to be honest and show courage.”

He argued that more civility would help localities, be it at the local level or the national level, such as Broward County to “the whole country” more easily achieve their goals for constituents.

His remarks drew several rounds of applause.

Bush is chair, co-founder and a managing partner of Finback Investment Partners, in Coral Gables, which holds financial stakes in nine companies in fields including education, security, private and public sector procurement and homecare assistance, according to its website. One of his sons, Jeb Bush Jr., is among the firm’s partners.

The former governor was invited to appear by Broward County Administrator Monica Cepero, who served as an adviser to Bush in Tallahassee.