Republican strategist Ana Navarro Tuesday slammed Donald Trump's 2016 Republican presidential candidacy, calling the billionaire businessman "a very big, televised distraction" during the upcoming debates.
"He's going to be a distraction," Navarro told Brianna Keilar on
"The Situation Room" on CNN. She has worked on former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's transition team and described herself as a friend of Sen. Marco Rubio, both of whom Trump blasted in his announcement.
"I just want to sincerely thank him for having attacked them today, because I think anything that he can do to contrast himself with them makes them look that much more substantial and that much more serious," Navarro said.
"And I want to remind my Republican brethren that we want to win. We've been out of the White House for a long time. We need to focus on what the best way of doing that is. And certainly, entertaining Donald Trump is not that.
"So, I can tell you, I'm leading the 'Dump Trump Movement,'" she added. "If we want entertainment, go watch TV. But what we want is a president, and he just does not have the qualifications."
In his rousing speech at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York City, the developer promised: "I will be the greatest jobs president that God ever created.
"I will bring back our jobs from China, from Mexico, from Japan, from so many places," he said.
Trump vowed to rebuild the nation's infrastructure and create jobs, saying that US unemployment has risen too high, even past 20 percent, challenging government figures that put it at under 6 percent.
Declaring a net worth of $8.7 billion, Trump accused Bush of being weak on immigration reform and "in favor of Common Core."
He said that both Florida Republicans "don't have a clue" on how to lead the nation.
"Our enemies are getting stronger and stronger by the day, and we as a country are getting weaker," Trump said. "Even our nuclear arsenal doesn't work."
Navarro, who also served on Arizona Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign in 2008, dismissed Trump's announcement as a "rambling, ridiculous stream of consciousness."
"I heard it for as long as it went on, and I couldn't figure out what he was talking about," she told CNN. "It's the same speech that I've heard from him and some of the Republican cattle calls.
"I can't treat it as a serious Republican platform — and I can't treat it as if it's coming from a serious Republican candidate," Navarro said.
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