Michigan Governor Finds Support Over Flint Water Crisis In Jeb Bush, But Not Matt Damon
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has been called upon by angry residents of Flint, Michigan, and others to resign over the alleged cover-up of lead-contaminated water which people unknowingly drank and bathed in over the course of several months.
Despite the anger and controversy, Snyder has thus far stayed on as governor of Michigan and vowed to “fix” the problem. Finding support in Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush comes as a surprise to some, but Jeb knows what it’s like to govern a state. Bush governed Florida for eight years.
“He’s not saying that it’s someone else’s fault,” Bush said. “He’s rolling up his sleeves and trying to — trying to deal with this. But he has a responsibility, he’s admitted it. And so does the EPA, and so does local government.”
Bush didn’t seem to directly place the Flint water crisis on the Michigan governor; rather, he placed blame on the lack of communication between “local, state, and federal agencies.” Once the Flint water crisis was out in the open, he said that those agencies pointed fingers at each other rather than owning up to a problem, according to CNN.
Because everyone was playing the blame game, Jeb Bush reportedly found a lot of respect for the Michigan governor when he stepped up to the plate and took responsibility for the massive problem in Flint, Michigan.
The Republican presidential candidate even had a bit of advice for the governor of Michigan.
“He needs to do what he’s doing which is to accept responsibility and begin to solve the problem,” he said, when asked if Snyder should resign. Bush also said Snyder is “a great governor for Michigan.”
He even went as far as saying he admires Michigan governor Rick Snyder “for stepping up,” firing those who were responsible, and being committed to fixing such a difficult problem.
The Republican presidential candidate took the opportunity to inject some of his beliefs about Washington’s role into the Flint, Michigan crisis.
“But it does point out that we’re – we have a 20th century regulatory system on a 21st century world. Someone needs to change how we go about Washington’s role in this, where there’s more accountability and more transparency, so that when reports are done, they’re thoroughly vetted.”
On the other hand, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders called for Snyder to resign as the Michigan governor.
Sanders hasn’t been the only person in the public spotlight to call on the Michigan governor to resign. Oscar-nominated actor Matt Damon, the co-founder of nonprofit Water.org, has also called for Snyder to resign over the water crisis in Flint, Michigan.
“At the very least he should resign! At the very least,” Matt Damon told The Daily Beast. “Listen, everybody’s entitled to a fair trial in the United States of America, but that man should get one. And soon. That’s just my personal opinion.”
“In terms of the work that we do, to see it happening in Flint, every parent in America feels it on a visceral, deep level, because we ask the question, ‘What if that was my child?'” said Matt Damon.
He also said that Water.Org’s mission is “to end that suffering for those children, and those parents” for people around the world.
For the families of Flint, admitting that there is a problem and that it will be “fixed” may not be enough, despite what Jeb Bush or anyone else thinks. The children and adults who have suffered irreparable damage from the lead poisoning cannot be “fixed,” and time will only tell how the children’s lives will be affected because of it.
[Photo by Matt Mills McKnight-Pool/Getty Images]
