Jeb Bush believes a Republican should challenge President Trump for the nomination in 2020 — slamming the president’s “dangerous” policies on trade and other issues.
Bush, who ran unsuccessfully for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016, made the comments Saturday during an interview with ex-Obama adviser David Axelrod.
“I think someone should run just because Republicans ought to be given a choice,” Bush said on CNN’s “The Axe Files.” “It’s hard to beat a sitting president, but to have a conversation about what it is to be a conservative, I think it’s important.”
[Jeb Bush Pokes Trump: My Kids ‘Actually Love Me’]
Bush, whose father George. H.W. Bush was the 41st president of the United States and his brother, George W. Bush, was the 43rd, reportedly added that Republican voters should be given more of a choice between different ideologies.
“And our country needs to have competing ideologies that people — that are dynamic, that focus on the world we’re in and the world we’re moving toward rather than revert back to a nostalgic time,” he said on CNN, seeming to take aim at Trump’s “Make America Great Again” 2016 slogan.
Bush elaborated about his disagreements with Trump during the interview.
“We haven’t had a major crisis to deal with, but this unilateralism or going-alone-ism I think is really dangerous,” Bush said of Trump’s foreign policy moves.
“Our friends no longer believe they can trust the United States and our enemies, in many cases, feel emboldened by this approach,” he reportedly added. “I think it defies the…bipartisan kind of consensus on foreign policy that has, by and large, kept America safe.”
[WATCH: Former President Bush Slams Trump-Era America: ‘Bigotry Seems Emboldened’]
Bush also critiqued Trump’s ability to handle the more symbolic aspects of running the country, such as responding during moments of crisis.
However, he did praise Trump’s tax policy, regulatory changes and judicial nominations.
“You can honestly say he’s done good things in terms of policy and applaud them,” Bush said. “I think the symbolic, you know the kingly duties of the presidency, that’s where he falls short, and it’s important.”
So far, the only person to hint at challenging Trump for the 2020 GOP nomination is former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, who formed an exploratory committee in February.
A look at some things Donald Trump said about Jeb Bush during the 2016 campaign:
The last thing our country needs is another BUSH! Dumb as a rock!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 18, 2015
.@JebBush has embarrassed himself & his family with his incompetent campaign for President. He should remain true to himself.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 18, 2015
I have an idea for @JebBush whose campaign is a disaster. Try using your last name & don’t be ashamed of it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 18, 2015
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4 Responses
Low energy loser.
Jeb, Please do so yourself !
It was fun last go around.
Any Republican who opposes Trump in primaries is likely to permanently alienate Trump’s base (the ones the Democrats called a “basket of deplorables”), and would therefore have no chance of winning in the general election. If the Democrats go radically to the left, there might be an opportunity for the third party if it is “fusion” ticket (a leading Democrat and a leading Republican) but that requires Trump to become very weak and the Democrats to be solidly socialist, and still the third party would have to convince both parties that a vote for the third party isn’t wasted and isn’t going to guarantee the election of the monster they perceive in the opposing party.
They needed someone to come in and shake things up and drain the swamp
but now We need someone Presidential and normal once again