Jeb Bush says he likes Patriots, downplays Deflategate

Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush spoke during an interview on his campaign bus in Portsmouth, N.H.Keith Bedford/Globe Staff/Globe Staff

SOMERSWORTH, N.H. — Jeb Bush has taken pains to bond with New Englanders -- make that, more specifically, Granite Staters -- by talking up the NFL Patriots and especially tight end Rob Gronkowski.

But when the talk veers to Deflategate, it's harder to tell whose side he's on. Asked about the cheating allegations Thursday while stumping in New Hampshire, Bush gave a rambling, non-committal answer.

He even claimed to be initially confused about the underlying facts, thinking both teams in last season's AFC championship game had under-inflated footballs.

"All I know is I love sports," Bush said. "It's a great divergent, it's a common bond. I don't really care about deflategate. It just doesn't — it's not going to be on my list of things to fret about. I worry about rising income for the middle class, that's what I worry about."

The crowd applauded.

"We obsess about some really interesting things, you know, that if you think about it are like great topics of conversations," Bush said. "And we don't obsess about the things that are hugely important: The heroin epidemic in New Hampshire; declining income for the middle class; 6 million people stuck in poverty. There's some big issues that we need to focus on.

"Deflategate is just a diversion that kind of keeps us entertained."

The crowd was silent, until Bush reached for a way to win them back.

"I take Brady any day of the week as quarterback, how about that?" he said. "As long as he has Gronkowski."

There could be some Iowa versus New England calculation at work here. A poll several months ago by the Des Moines Register and Bloomberg Politics found that 54 percent of Republican caucus-goers in Iowa think Brady cheated.

"Anybody got Gronkowski in your fantasy football?" Bush said in Somersworth, to applause. "I for one am now 8 and 0. Gronkowski is just kicking you know what. So, i'm turning into a Pats fan little by little."

He didn't stop there.

"I went to high school with your coach, who's the greatest coach in NFL history," he said of he and Bill Belichick's shared years at Andover. "He's such a warm and fuzzy guy. He's actually, on a personal level, much nicer than he appears in his press conferences."