Referring to the children of undocumented immigrants who come to the United States to give birth as "anchor babies" is not offensive, Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush said on Thursday, according to the Washington Post.

Latino critics had complained about the former Florida governor's use of the term, which he first employed in a Wednesday radio interview. But Bush later challenged reporters inquiring about the incident to come up with a suitable alternative.

"Do you have a better term?" he quipped. "You give me a better term, and I'll use it."

But the brother of former President George W. Bush and son of former President George H.W. Bush was quick to remind his audience that he had not coined the controversial term himself, however, Mediaite noted.

"What I said was it's commonly referred to that, that's what I said," Bush said. "I didn't use it as my own language. You want to get to the policy for a second? I think that people born in this country ought to be American citizens."

The Washington Post described his comments as "one of his most aggressive exchanges with reporters to date" and commented that a "feistier, combative Jeb Bush" had emerged.

"Bush's defense of the term is a sharp departure from how he usually discusses immigration reform and the broader national debate on the subject," the newspaper judged. "As a longtime advocate for comprehensive changes to the immigration system, he speaks out frequently about the need for Republicans to strike a respectful tone when discussing the issue."

On the "anchor baby" controversy, Bush seems to be on the same page as his rival Donald Trump, who had caused an uproar within the Latino community when he said that Mexico brought criminals and rapists to the U.S.

"You mean it's not politically correct (to use the term), and yet everybody uses it? I'll use the word 'anchor baby,'" the real estate tycoon said.