Jeb Bush Is Sorry For Insulting The French For Their Work Week

Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush is très désolé for mocking France's work week during the CNBC presidential debate last week.

During the GOP debate, the former Florida governor took a dig at the French in attempt at criticizing 2016 rival Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) for missing votes in the U.S. Senate.

"I mean, literally, the Senate -- what is it, like a French work week?" Bush asked Rubio. "You get, like, three days where you have to show up?"

Bush said Tuesday he's since realized his remarks were unfair to our Revolutionary War allies.

"I made the mistake of saying that the Congress operates on a French work week—I really did a disservice to the French," Bush told reporters in New Hampshire, according to Time's Zeke Miller. "I now know that the average French workweek is actually greater than the German work week. ... So, my God, I totally insulted an entire country -- our first ally -- that helped us become free as a nation! And I apologize."

After Bush's initial remarks, The Huffington Post's Daniel Marans argued that France's labor policies aren't something to mock:

Americans put in 1,789 hours of work per year on average, compared with French workers' 1,473 hours. That means Americans work nearly 40 more eight-hour days a year than their French counterparts.

And while there are myriad factors driving average life expectancy in a country, France’s greater longevity than the United States' is consistent with this analysis. In France, average life expectancy is 82.3 years, according to the OECD, compared with 78.8 in the U.S.

While Bush may be backing off his criticism of the French, the candidate says he will continue to press Rubio on his voting record.

"People that are serving need to show up and work. Period. Over and out," Bush told CNN. "I just think people need to show up and work. That's what I did."

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