Jeb Bush maneuvers to pin Iraq War blame on Hillary Clinton — and keep his brother out of the picture

Jeb Bush
(Image credit: Kayana Szymczak/Getty Images)

"Who can seriously argue that America and our friends are safer today than in 2009, when the president and Secretary Clinton — the storied 'team of rivals' — took office?" Jeb Bush plans to say later today during a speech at the Ronald Regan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. His comments are aimed to strategically divorce his name from his brother's highly-criticized entry into the Iraq War — and from the failures of the Obama Administration during the clean-up.

Excerpts of the speech, which were released Monday night by Bush's campaign and reported by Politico, put an intense focus on Clinton's role in particular. "ISIS grew while the United States disengaged from the Middle East and ignored the threat," Bush will accuse. "And where was Secretary of State Clinton in all of this?"

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.