GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush came down hard on both rivals Donald Trump and Marco Rubio on Monday morning's network news programming, ridiculing Trump as a "real estate guy" with a history of bankruptcies and Rubio as a senator with a slim list of achievements.
In New Hampshire, which is holding its primary election on Tuesday, voters are testing candidates and making their decisions, the former Florida governor told
MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program and "what they're doing is saying 'we want someone with a steady hand as president of the United States, not someone that just talks trash or is scripted.'"
But being president means that something can happen on the first day that was not discussed in the entire campaign, Bush said, and "we're living in dangerous times."
Bush, though, said that he does not quite agree with one of the main complaints about Rubio's campaign being scripted, an argument stemming from rival Chris Christie's comments about his being a carefully-handled "boy in the bubble."
"I know him as a bright, charismatic leader that hasn't been tested, hasn't gone through all of the things people that have been governors, have gone through, but I don't consider him that at all," said Bush. But the problem is, Rubio doesn't "have a list" of accomplishments.
"He's a gifted person and he will be a leader going forward, but he doesn't have a proven record and I think people aren't willing to make a risky bet on that," said Bush.
And when the show hosts played a game of word association with Bush, he had one word to describe Trump: "Loser."
"Donald Trump recently became a Republican so no one has had this experience dealing with the guy, but I find it remarkable when you have a chance to talk about his temperament, which Ted Cruz does and he totally ignored it or when Rubio had a chance to say Trump is not a conservative, which he's not, he totally ignored it," said Bush. "You don't confront a bully that way."
And, he said that it's "ridiculous" for other candidates to be afraid of Trump.
"He's just a real estate guy," said Bush. "He's gone bankrupt four times, he's a successful man, but not perfect by any stretch of the imagination so why not challenge him?"
Earlier in the morning, Bush told
Fox News' "Fox & Friends" program that he plans to continue his attacks on Trump, because he believes it's important to elect a candidate who can defeat Hillary Clinton, and a person who is a conservative.
"This is a reality TV show for him," Bush said. "He views it as a form of entertainment, I think. And I don't view it that way."
The former governor also touted his own executive leadership on domestic issues, telling the "Morning Joe" program that he has people, including his brother and father, former Presidents George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush and their years of experience, as well as other people in Congress, who he'd also rely on for assistance.
"Let's do the math," he said. "If you've been in a position of leadership and foreign policy and you're a Republican, you've served two presidents since 1989. By definition, I'm going to be relying on them just as every other candidate is relying on Bush 41 and Bush 43."
But there would be differences, said Bush, because he believes that "soft power" is important when it comes to dealing with foreign issues.
"You don't say that in a Republican primary that much, but we need to be engaged diplomatically, politically, economically, there are many elements of a foreign policy, but national security, keeping us safe has got to be the first priority," said Bush.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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