Donald Trump may have tapped into Americans' angst and anger, rival GOP candidate Jeb Bush said Tuesday, but still, he's a "buddy of the Clintons" and his views are not those held by true conservatives.
"He's the only person on the stage that's given money to Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton's campaign and their foundation," the former Florida governor told
MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program.
"I think he's probably the only guy that invited Hillary Clinton to one of his weddings. His views are closer aligned to Hillary Clinton's than that of a conservative. How can he beat Hillary Clinton when we get into the general election? He'll get crushed."
Further, he railed against Trump, "you can't insult your way to the presidency. I find it remarkable no other candidate is taking him on. He's a bully. And his views, while it's very fun to talk about all the great theatrics, his views are not the views [of] conservatives and a conservative will win the conservative nomination for the conservative party."
Trump's strategy is working for the time being, Bush said, but he doesn't think that his lead will hold, particularly in the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire.
"He's not going to win Iowa, and if he doesn't win Iowa, then they'll have a hard time here [in New Hampshire], and if he doesn't win here, then the whole thing collapses," Bush said.
And, he said he wants to know "where does he stand on national security? What does he think about the nuclear triad. How will he keep us safe? How will he create an environment where people's incomes rise again? There's no specifics there."
Once the "bubble is burst," said Bush, "I think you'll see dramatic changes."
But as far as Trump is concerned, "you've got to take on the bully head on. That's what I'm doing. Everybody else is in the witness protection program, I've noticed."
Bush said in his town hall meetings he is learning that people are angry at Washington because the government is no longer working.
"It's the question of how can we make sure my kid can go to college without being indebted," said Bush. "How can we have rising income for my family and how does this country be kept safe and secure? Those are issues that come up over and over again."
He said one thing that did surprise him was the concern about the epidemic of heroin in New England and nationwide.
"Today I'm at a summit to deal with this and I'll lay out a detailed plan on how to fix this and what the role of the president is," said Bush. "I got to do this as governor, we reduced drug abuse in our state. I have a personal experience with this and I know how tragic it is for families to have a loved one that goes through this."
Also on Tuesday, he denied that his brother, former President George W. Bush, is hindering his campaign.
"My brother, if you did the polling and looked at it, he's the most popular president amongst Republicans in this country," said Bush. "So the whole idea that somehow he's a burden, any mistakes I make are my own.
"My brother and family, I'm honored to be part of that family. I love them dearly. All the psychobabble that goes along with it, I ignore that. Meditate on that."
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