Would Jeb Bush kill the baby Adolf Hitler given the chance? 'Hell yeah!'

This cherubic youngster went on to become the leader of the Third Reich and responsible for the deaths of millions. Would it have been better to nip that in the bud? Photograph: Bettmann/CORBIS

Adolf Hitler in 1932. Photograph: Roger Viollet/Getty Images

The Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush on Monday considered the “baby Hitler” debate, during an interview with the Huffington Post.

The debate arose on Twitter in October, after the New York Times Magazine asked readers if, in order to alter the course of history for the better, they would be willing to go back in time and kill the baby Adolf Hitler.

When the Huffington Post asked the question, in an on-camera interview filmed on the Bush campaign bus in New Hampshire, the former Florida governor had a clear and quick response.

“Hell yeah, I would!” he said. “You gotta step up, man.”

Gotta do it. https://t.co/xS3WwQDc1F

— Jeb Bush (@JebBush) November 9, 2015

Citing Back to the Future, Bush acknowledged that time travel can cause messy and unforeseen consequences. Still, he stuck to his answer that given the chance, he would kill an infant Hitler – even if the leader of the Third Reich were, in that state, cute.

“It could have a dangerous effect on everything else. But I’d do it. I mean – Hitler,” he said, shrugging.