Columba Bush, the wife of Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush, is playing an increasingly important role in her husband's campaign, as the former Florida governor seeks to appeal to Hispanics,.

The 62-year-old philanthropist is a native of León, Mexico. She met Bush in 1970 when the future governor was teaching English as a second language and assisting in the building of a school in a small village outside of the Guanajuato city.

In a new video released on Monday designed to appeal to Latino voters -- a key constituency -- Columba Bush made her most expansive comments to date, the Washington Post reported. The spot features the candidate speaking entirely in Spanish with his wife adding comments in English.

"The United States of America is a great country," Jeb Bush proclaims. "Thanks to the people that come from all over the world, contributing to our economy and community. To me, Hispanic culture is very important and positive."

His wife, meanwhile, points out that she has "lived over half my life" in the United States.

"We all have the same interests, the same feelings," she recounts. "We go to church every Sunday. We have celebrations with the family and we keep our traditions. But at the end, it's just that: faith, friends and family."

Columba Bush even featured prominently in Wednesday night's CNN debate of GOP presidential hopefuls, when moderator Jack Tapper asked her husband about allegations by front-runner Donald Trump that Bush's relatively moderate stance on immigration was due to his wife's heritage.

"To subject my wife into the middle of political conversation was completely inappropriate, and I hope you apologize for that," Bush challenged the real estate tycoon turned White House candidate, according to The Hill.

Trump, for his part, would not budge. "I have to tell you, I hear your wife is a lovely woman," he said about Columba Bush, who as Florida's first lady, advocated for the Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, among other causes. But, "I won't [apologize] because I said nothing wrong," the former "Apprentice" star insisted.

Watch the ad: