SIMI VALLEY, California — Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush huddled in secret with a handful of reporters as he’s slipping in the polls ahead of the next debate here on Wednesday evening, Breitbart News has learned.
Bush met in private for an off-the-record meeting on Tuesday with RealClearPolitics’ Rebecca Berg, the Washington Examiner’s Byron York, Fox News’ John Roberts and CNN’s S.E. Cupp.
A Republican political insider told Breitbart News:
Two reporters complained to me today that their editors and producers forced them to attend an off the record pre-debate meeting with Jeb Bush, who is in single digits in all national and state polls. I was also told that the meeting was so low energy and boring that one reporter described it as a ‘snooze siesta.’ Jeb wavered for five days on whether to hold the gathering but then decided that it would be a mistake not to try and spin tomorrow’s loss which will be both in form and substance. The good news is that Jeb spoke to an audience which doubled his last campaign event.
Bush spokesman Tim Miller didn’t immediately return a request for comment, nor did the other attendees or representatives for them.
Bush has virtually collapsed in recent polls as Republican frontrunner Donald Trump has taken an even more commanding lead while Dr. Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) are all ahead of Bush in recent polling.
Bush’s drop in polling has coincided with his decision to use the foreign language of Spanish on the campaign trail rather than speaking English—something Trump has criticized Bush for. Bush using Spanish rather than English puts him on the wrong side—and Trump on the right side—of an issue that polls extraordinarily well among all Americans, Republican, Democrat, and independent.
CNN’s Jake Tapper will be moderating this next debate along with Salem Communications’ Hugh Hewitt. The debate will be at the Reagan Library here in Simi Valley, California.