Jeb Bush: Trump Has Become ‘a Distraction in and of Himself’

Former Florida governor and 2016 presidential candidate Jeb Bush said Sunday that President Trump is making life harder for himself.

“He should stop saying things that aren’t true, that are distractions from the task at hand,” Bush told WFOR’s Jim DeFede in an interview on Facing South Florida.

“He’s a distraction in and of himself,” he continued. “He’s got a lot of work to do, and some of these things — the wiretapping and all of this stuff — is a complete distraction that makes it harder to accomplish the things I know he wants to do.”

DeFede asked Bush whether Trump accusing former President Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower tarnished the office of the president, to which Bush replied, “A little bit.”

He added that Trump “hasn’t shifted to being president in the way that people are used to, and I think that’s the problem.”

Bush also praised the president for his choice of Cabinet picks, especially Rex Tillerson, Betsy DeVos, and John Kelly.

“The president made some really good appointments,” Bush said. “He’s acted decisively on some areas I think are important, particularly on the regulatory side.”

When DeFede asked him about his political future, Bush said he would not “rule out anything,” but also said he is happy as a private citizen.

Bush said he did not regret running for office in 2016, but felt his personality did not click with voters.

“Reasoning, in this environment where people are angry, is hard, and I wasn’t capable of giving them a sense that there is a better path,” he said.

According to the Miami Herald, the WFOR interview was the first in-depth local interview Bush gave since he dropped out of the 2016 Republican presidential primary.