Jeb Bush’s inaugural jab in the royal rumble against Hillary Clinton was not over the economy, or even that other American royal family. It was a fumbled applause line that would have made Michael Scott snicker.
In mentioning Clinton by name for the first time since declaring his run for the White House, Bush accidentally dropped an immature sex joke made famous by Dunder Mifflin’s inappropriate regional manager on the American version of The Office: “That’s what she said.”
“Secretary Clinton insists that when the progressive agenda encounters religious beliefs to the contrary those beliefs, quote, ‘have to be changed’,” Bush said on Monday during his campaign launch speech in Miami. “That’s what she said – and I guess we should at least thank her for the warning.”
Bush was supposed to be railing against a comment Clinton made in April at the Women in the World Summit in New York. In her speech, Clinton noted that reproductive rights are less secure than they were four decades ago.
“Far too many women are denied access to reproductive health care and safe childbirth, and laws have to be backed up with resources and political will,” she said in April. “And deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed.”
On Monday, Bush seized on the quote as an early attack line of his own.
“That’s what she said,” he said, innocently enough. His punctuation was perfect – even though there was no innuendo to prompt it.
But the internet didn’t care and, naturally, responded like a bunch of giggling pre-teens.
Hillary vs. Bush: That's what she said. https://t.co/G5BFVEL9k2
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) June 15, 2015
As promised, there were “Florida man” jokes.
Florida Man Says “That’s What She Said” On National Stage
— Sophie Kleeman (@sophie_kleeman) June 15, 2015
And how does candidate with such a questionable grasp of pop culture relate to millennials, those self-obsessed, entitled youngsters?
Further evidence Jeb Bush will not win the millennial vote: he inadvertently wrote in "that's what she said" in his speech.
— Elizabeth Plank (@feministabulous) June 15, 2015
The line was meant to assure conservatives who believe their freedom of religion is under attack that Bush, a practicing Roman Catholic, will fight back against big government to protect the first amendment.
“The most galling example is the shabby treatment of the Little Sisters of the Poor, a Christian charity that dared to voice objections of conscience to Obamacare,” he said. “The next president needs to make it clear that great charities like the Little Sisters of the Poor need no federal instruction in doing the right thing.”
The local order of Catholic nuns had sued the federal government over Obamacare’s contraception mandate.
The Obama administration sought a compromise in a similar action, but the nuns rejected the arrangement, saying they would still be complicit in allowing access to what they believe are “abortion-inducing” contraceptives.
“It comes down to a choice between the Little Sisters and Big Brother,” Bush said, “and I’m going with the Sisters.”
