“I know how to do this because, yes, I am a Bush,” he told the crowd. “I happened to see two really good presidents develop relationships with other countries.”

The crowd at the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference — a gathering of major GOP donors — gave Bush a big round of applause.

The day after the debate, the Bush campaign tweeted out a picture of George W. Bush standing on the rubble of the World Trade Center alongside a New York firefighter. The image was accompanied by Jeb Bush’s assertion that his brother “kept us safe.”

Aides said that crowds should expect to hear similarly straightforward defenses from Bush about his family.

“Given how strong of a contrast it was with Trump on the debate stage, it makes sense to follow-up on what was a good moment,” said Tim Miller, Bush’s campaign communications director.