Jeb Bush Urges Americans to Work More

By April Newell 7/13/2015

Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush says he has been taken out of context after telling Americans to work more hours.

Bush made the comments to New Hampshire’s Union Leader newspaper during an interview that was live-streamed on the app Periscope.

The interview focused primarily on the former Florida governor’s plans for tax reform and economic growth. He had said that in order to grow the economy, Americans need to “work longer hours.”

The Bush campaign argues that the statement was a reference to underemployed part-time workers,

During the interview, Bush stated that under the Obama Administration, the U.S. has reached the lowest workforce population since 1977 and that the only way to prevent more Americans from falling behind is to increase the incentive to work.

Bush also criticized welfare programs and full-time jobs that only required 30 hours a week instead of 40.

According to a 2014 Gallop poll, many Americans with full-time jobs reported working an average of 47 hours a week, while nearly 4 in 10 reported working 50 hours a week.

The Democratic National Committee has released a statements that Bush would “not fight for the middle class” as president.