GOP presidential primary candidate Jeb Bush reportedly may be considering a refusal to support front-running rival Donald Trump if the real estate billionaire becomes the party's standard-bearer.
Politico reports senior aides began looking into the possibility of Bush making a clear break with Trump at Tuesday night's fifth GOP debate in Las Vegas — and though it didn't happen, the option "may still be on the table."
The former Florida governor's campaign has already examined whether such a statement would disqualify him from state primary ballots that demand a loyalty pledge for support of the eventual GOP nominee, Politico reports.
Bush on Dec. 8 said he'd
support the party's nominee, adding he didn't think it'd be Trump.
But at Tuesday's debate, Bush hammered Trump as a "chaos candidate" who'd be a
"chaos president," even as "others on the stage kind of walked away from that," Trent Wisecup, Bush's director of strategy, tells Politico. "He walked into it."
He also mocked Trump's previous claim he gets his information on key issues from
"the shows."
"I don't know if that's Saturday morning or Sunday morning," Bush said.
Taking Trump head-on is now part of the Bush strategy, Politico reports, but if he decides to make an official break from the front-runner, he might not be alone.
Earlier this month, another presidential primary contender, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, floated the prospect of not supporting Trump if he was the GOP nominee,
The Hill reported.
Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio) floated the prospect of bucking the party's pledge and not supporting Donald Trump if he wins the GOP presidential nominee.
"I signed the pledge, it's why you have to be careful with pledges you sign, that I would support the Republican nominee," Kasich said when questioned at a Council on Foreign Relations speech, The Hill reports.
"Is it possible that you change your mind?" he asked rhetorically. "Yeah. It takes something extreme to do it."
And former Pennsylvania
Gov. Tom Ridge has already declared he "can't vote for Donald Trump" should he become the GOP standard-bearer.
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