Democrats have hounded the former Florida governor Jeb Bush and his presidential rival, Donald Trump, for using the term "anchor babies" this week.
"No, I don't. I don't regret it," said Bush. "No, do you have a better term? OK, you give me, you give me a better term and I'll use it. I'm serious," a seemingly agitated Bush said, reports CNN.
Bush first used the words in a radio interview on Wednesday as he responded to questions about Trump's use of the term. Some people use the term to describe people who immigrate illegally into the United States and give birth here to ensure U.S. citizenship for their child.
"What I said is that it's commonly referred to that. I didn't use it as my own language. You want to get to the policy for a second? I think that people born in this country ought to be American citizens," Bush told reporters about the radio interview, according to the Washington Post.
The term - considered derogatory by some - was used by Bush during an interview with radio host Bill Bennett while discussing Trump's recent call to end birthright citizenship. The former Florida governor said he disagreed with Trump, but called for "greater enforcement" of the policy to prevent "abuse."
"If there's fraud or if there's abuse, if people are bringing, pregnant women are coming in to have babies simply because they can do it, then there ought to be greater enforcement. That's the legitimate side of this. Better enforcement so that you don't have these, you know, 'anchor babies,' as they're described, coming into the country," Bush said, reports Huffington Post.
Until the radio interview on Wednesday, Bush had not uttered the words publicly on the campaign trail, according to a Washington Post review of his public comments.
