© David Goldman/Associated PressFormer Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and businessman Donald Trump spar as Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., listens.
Donald Trump got booed three times in rapid succession during an exchange with Jeb Bush over eminent domain — a wildly unpopular process in New Hampshire.
When asked to explain his support for the government's ability to take land from private citizens for projects like the Northern Pass in New Hampshire, the businessman and Republican frontrunner doubled down on his previous position.
"So many people have hit me with commercials and other things about eminent domain," Trump said at Saturday night's ABC News debate. "Eminent domain is an absolute necessity for a country, for our country. Without it you wouldn't have roads, you wouldn't have hospitals, you wouldn't have anything."
Trump said conservatives including many of his opponents say they're against eminent domain, but they support the projects that need eminent domain to exist.
"The Keystone Pipeline — without eminent domain, it wouldn't go 10 feet," Trump said. "You need eminent domain. And eminent domain is a good thing, not a bad thing."
Trump added that "when eminent domain is used on a person's property, they get a fortune. And if they're smart they'll get two or three times the value of their property."
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush jumped in, arguing that there's a difference between using eminent domain for public purposes and for private purposes, and accused Trump of using eminent domain to his advantage to build a "limousine parking lot for his casinos" — not public use.
Comment: Wise words.