“This is not a zero-sum game,” Bush repeated. “If you want to grow at 4 percent per year instead of 2 percent, you need younger, more dynamic people inside of our economy.”

Lowry pointed out that critics like Walker weren’t necessarily talking about zero-sum games as much as supply and demand. If the U.S. brings in more low-skilled workers, it will drive down the wages of the low-skilled workers already here.

“So who’s suggesting that?” Bush asked. “That’s the false argument.”

Lowry noted that the Senate’s Gang of Eight comprehensive immigration reform bill would have done just that — a remark that brought one of Bush’s sharpest responses.

“I’m not a United States senator,” Bush said. “Thank God. Just for the record here, I live in Miami. I’m outside of Washington. I’ve written a book about this. What I was describing was my idea.”