Jeb Bush raves about moon colonies at New Hampshire campaign stop

Jeb Bush at the Heritage Action Presidential Candidate Forum.
(Image credit: Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

You know election season is getting good when candidates start talking about moon colonies. Newt Gingrich went there in 2012. And after someone raised the question of revitalizing the space program during a Jeb Bush campaign stop in New Hampshire on Wednesday, the former governor of Florida got pretty excited about the possibility of setting up camp on the moon.

Recalling Gingrich's notorious proposal, Bush said, "People started laughing [at Gingrich]. And I'm thinking, 'Really?' I think it's pretty cool."

Bush went on to say that sending people to colonize the moon wouldn't be "in the absence of taking care of the hungry or the poor. We're a big country, we're a generous country, and the benefits of this are far more than people realize." He proposed that the U.S. partner with "dreamers" like Tesla's Elon Musk, citing "benefits on planet Earth when we have a zeal for discovery."

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Bush also demanded to know what was "wrong about having big, aspirational goals" — and gave the questioner what the The New York Times called "a modest fist bump."

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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.