Jeb Bush marks Cinco de Mayo with Spanish video

by Ben Kamisar - 05/05/15 10:56 AM ET

Former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-Fla.) marked Cinco de Mayo with a new Spanish-language video from his super-PAC that emphasizes his ties to the Hispanic community.

“Here in the U.S., Cinco de Mayo has become a date when we recognize and celebrate our relationship and our ties to Mexico and the great contributions of the Mexican-American community to our country,” he says in the video.

{mosads}”For me, this relationship is very profound.”

Bush goes on to note that his wife, Columba, is from Mexico, and his family has “strong ties with Mexico.” He said he has “great respect and affection” for Mexicans.

He met Columba while on an exchange program in León, Mexico.

The video comes as Bush weighs a bid for president. He’s used his Spanish fluency to reach out to Hispanics, most recently at a conference of Evangelical Latinos, where he switched between English and Spanish, according to the Latin Post.

Bush is one of the few potential GOP candidates who supports a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants, a stance that some in the GOP’s conservative base call “amnesty.”

But Bush’s Hispanic identification caused a brief hiccup last month, when The New York Times reported he wrote on a 2009 voter registration form that he was Hispanic.

“My mistake! Don’t think I’ve fooled anyone!” Bush tweeted when his son, Jeb Bush Jr., pointed out the story on Twitter using the hashtag “HonoraryLatino.”

And despite his ties to the community, an ABC News/Washington Post poll from April found that he trailed Clinton among Hispanic voters by 45 percentage points, 71 percent to 26 percent.

Tags Jeb Bush