Friday on CNN’s “Erin Burnett Outfront,” Neil Bush, the brother of former President George W. Bush and former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL), sounded off on the night’s events at campaign event for Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, which was ultimately canceled.
Bush, who has endorsed Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) for president, ripped Trump for his “ego” and for what he described as having a “behavior challenge.” He also questioned Trump’s claim to be a unifier.
“It’s shocking to me, Erin,” Bush said. “And I appreciate your having me on. I’m surprised that the conversation turns to this horrific scene. It kind of reminds me of the Democrat convention during the Vietnam War when people were out protesting. Chicago has a history of that kind of thing. You know, look, Donald Trump has used tactics that have raised an army of very ardent fans for sure, but he has locked in a lot of people who just don’t like him. And I’m not saying the people protesting there in Chicago are Republican voters by any means, but there is a growing coalition of anti-establishment Tea Party Ted Cruz-type people and establishment folks that are rallying behind the candidacy of Ted Cruz to unify our party before the national convention so that we can have a positive message. We don’t need Donald Trump to be the head of the ticket for this great country of ours to be represented by a man with such a giant ego and with so few solutions to the problems would be tragic. And it is not in the nature of a Reagan or a Jack Kemp or George Bush, Sr. or George W. Bush to have someone who has got this kind of behavioral challenge. So it is tragic. I think he brought it on because of his tactics that he’s used to show that he is the tough guy that is going to be able to keep us safe from these threats. We are still the greatest country on the face of the earth. And he is and not the right guy to lead us forward, period.”
Later in the segment, host Erin Burnett asked Bush if he could support Trump if he were to strike the right tone, to which Bush said “definitely not.”
“No, no – definitely not,” Bush added. “You know what he is going to do tomorrow if he does it at all? And I hope he does address the issue. He’s going to say ‘I’m a unifier.’ I’m the only guy that can bring the country together. I’m the best. He makes these broad generalizations like he’s running for eighth grade class president and he doesn’t really say anything of substance. He is not a serious candidate, sadly. And I’m sorry to say. That he’s confiscated the Republican process. There is still time though. There have been only 42 percent of the delegates allotted so far. Ted Cruz has received 29 percent of the popular vote compared to his 34 percent … we need to unify our party and he’s clearly not a unifier.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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