Arguing that the issue of minimum wage should be left to the states or even up to the private sector, Jeb Bush informed a South Carolina audience on Tuesday that he opposes a federal minimum wage.

The former Florida governor, who will most likely run as a Republican presidential candidate in 2016, was asked during a question-and-answer session whether or not he believed an increased minimum wage was a good idea and if he saw a role for government in the matter.

The son of the 41st President of the United States George H. Bush and brother of the 43rd President of the United States George W. Bush replied to the question by saying: “We need to leave it to the private sector. I think state minimum wages are fine. The federal government shouldn’t be doing this.”

The presidential hopeful suggested that the support for an increased minimum reflected surface-level thinking on the part of the American people.

As reported by Salon, Bush expounded on his idea by saying that the issue was “one of those poll-driven deals. It polls well, I’m sure – I haven’t looked at the polling, but I’m sure on the surface without any conversation, without any digging into it people say, ‘Yeah, everybody’s wages should be up.’”

He continued, saying that “in the case of Walmart, they have raised wages because of supply and demand and that’s good. But the federal government doing this will make it harder and harder for the first rung of the ladder to be reached, particularly for young people, particularly for people that have less education."

The Obama administration has proposed to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour up to $10.10 an hour.

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