WASHINGTON — Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush may have inadvertently given the Democrats their first attack ad of the presidential campaign this week when he inartfully detailed a prescription for economic growth that included the phrase “people need to work longer hours.”

Bush’s comment, part of an editorial board interview in New Hampshire that was streamed live Wednesday on Periscope, became instant fodder for Democrats seeking to portray the GOP front-runner, the son of one former president and brother of another, as out of touch with middle-class and working Americans. A blitz of disparaging news releases and tweets followed fast.

“Anyone who believes Americans aren’t working hard enough hasn’t met enough American workers,” tweeted Hillary Rodham Clinton, one of Bush’s Democratic rivals.

The “longer hours” remark seems quickly destined to take its place in the annals of campaign gaffes that haunt candidates for some time. It has all the required elements: It sounds terrible. It’s caught on video. The context requires multiple sentences of explanation, maybe even some economic policy jargon. And, most important, it reinforces a theme opponents already are pushing.

The most recent predecessor in this category is “you didn’t build that,” the ill-conceived clause that gave President Barack Obama trouble for much of his 2012 re-election campaign. Obama uttered the phrase in Roanoke, Va., in July 2012, borrowing from an Elizabeth Warren riff about how the government and educators help the wealthy get to where they are. Republicans quickly cast the president as trying to give the government credit for those successes. It became the stuff of billboards, T-shirts, talk radio, bumper stickers and attack ads.

Democrats dished it out that year, too. Mitt Romney suffered through “binders full of women” and “I like to be able to fire people who provide services to me.” The latter was made into a ringtone.

That Bush’s statement is essentially accurate may not do much to stem the tide of trouble. The former Florida governor was discussing factors that would improve productivity and economic growth.

“My aspiration for the country — and I believe we can achieve it — is 4 percent growth as far as the eye can see,” he said. “Which means we have to be a lot more productive, workforce participation has to rise from its all-time modern lows. It means that people need to work longer hours and, through their productivity, gain more income for their families. That’s the only way we’re going to get out of this rut that we’re in.”