Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush Wednesday applauded President Barack Obama's visit to a mosque outside Baltimore but told
Newsmax TV that "it's kind of an afterthought."
"We're a country of great diversity and the great majority of Muslims are American citizens who love this country as much as you and I do," Bush, the former two-term Florida governor, told "Newsmax Now" hosts J.D. Hayworth and John Bachman.
"It's time that he went — and he always figures out ways to blame Republicans for everything, so I'm not surprised about that."
However, to destroy the threat of Islamic jihadism from such groups as al-Qaida and the Islamic State, "it's going to require the support of the Muslim world," Bush said.
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"You don't do that by saying you're going to ban all Muslims from entering the country. That's not an appropriate response to the challenge we face.
"A much more targeted, incisive approach — which is a strategy to destroy ISIS in the caliphate — is the better approach," he added. "I've laid out that detailed plan that has garnered the support of a lot of people who understand what's necessary for us to win that fight."
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