I can't take this as anything other than desperate pandering to nativists when it comes out of the mouth of Jeb Bush.
BUSH: "We should not have a multicultural society. We outta have -- America has done immigration so much better than every other country because it's a set of values that people share and it defines our national identity, not race or ethnicity or where you come from.
When you create pockets of isolation, and in some cases, the assimilation process has been retarded because it has slowed down, it’s wrong. It limits people’s aspirations. [...]
We’re creeping toward multiculturalism, and that’s the wrong approach."
Jeb wasn't asked about immigration; he was asked about the Syrian refugee crisis and he responded by saying that refugees need to assimilate.
Expounding on that, Jeb said everyone who comes to America needs to assimilate because, if they don't, they won't have the same educational and professional opportunities that everyone else has. I'd call that a failure on the part of our institutions and a clear signal that there is a lack of opportunity in America for minority communities, but Jeb implies that it's a problem for immigrants and refugees to solve among themselves.
It would be easier to take this sincerely coming from any other candidate, but not Jeb Bush.
Jeb is a man who proudly studied and speaks Spanish and, during the last presidential primary debate, he asked Donald Trump to apologize to his Hispanic wife, a request which Trump denied.
Jeb Bush has a multicultural family and lives a multicultural life, but he wants to have his cake and eat it too on the campaign trail where he is denouncing multiculturalism.
Multiculturalism doesn't make America weaker, it makes America stronger. Jeb Bush should know that better than most of the other GOP candidates, but he's running for president, for Pete's sake. Jeb has to compete with the dingbats somehow.
Even if Jeb Bush is the last man standing in the Republican presidential primary, he will have thoroughly Mitt Romney-ed himself to get there.