WASHINGTON — Jeb Bush sent a message Tuesday to South Carolina gun owners that he’s with them by posting an image on his Twitter account of a handgun engraved with his name and a one-word caption: “America.”
The former Florida governor spent the morning at FN Manufacturing, a firearm maker in Columbia, SC, where he received the personalized weapon as a gift.
If the poll-challenged Bush was trying to attract attention, he succeeded. But many comments to his viral post were negative.
“Delete your account,” tweeted Edward Snowden, the government whistleblower.
“This is sad and political pandering at its worst,” wrote Canadian sports anchor David Amber.
“Are the bullets also engraved?” WikiLeaks wondered.
Several users questioned Bush’s caption of “America.”
“Jeb Bush proudly supports the regional govt of Wallonia, Belgium which owns the SC plant where this pistol was built,” tweeted American University professor Aki Peritz, referencing parent company FN Herstal.
Later Tuesday, Bush said he didn’t know about the tweet but said he wanted to show support to employees he visited at the gun company.
“The purpose was we went to a gun manufacturing facility where lots of jobs are created, high-wage jobs,” Bush said. “And I received a gun and I was honored to have it.”
The tweet to his 472,000 followers drew mockery, “Star Wars” analogies and plenty of commentary on gun violence in America.
Bush is pulling out all the stops in South Carolina — with his presidential brother campaigning for him Monday and his mother, Barbara, returning to the trail Thursday.
He’s staked his bid on defending the Second Amendment and boosting national defense in the veteran-friendly Palmetto State.
“If Hillary Clinton gets the four Supreme Court justices, the Second Amendment won’t exist,” Bush said Monday. “It just won’t.”
According to the latest poll, Bush has his work cut out for him in Saturday’s GOP primary. A CNN/ORD survey released Tuesday showed Bush getting just 10 percent of the vote, compared to 38 percent for Donald Trump, 22 percent for Ted Cruz and 14 percent for Marco Rubio.
Bush regularly touts his record defending gun ownership as governor of Florida and has boasted of his A-plus rating with the National Rifle Association.