Jeb Bush: Trump 'trying to insult his way to the presidency'

Politico

By Nick Gass

September 3, 2015

Jeb Bush: Trump 'trying to insult his way to the presidency' 

Donald Trump "is trying to insult his way to the presidency," Republican rival Jeb Bush said Thursday in the latest volley between the two feuding campaigns this week after Trump ripped the former Florida governor for speaking Spanish on the campaign trail.

In an interview with Breitbart News on Wednesday, Trump said that Bush should speak English while he is in the United States, following Bush's remark that Trump "no es conservador."

"It's not going to work," Bush said of Trump's attacks. "People want an uplifting hopeful message. People come to this country to pursue their dreams. Sometimes they start without speaking English, but they learn English and they add vitality to our country. The fact that he would say you can only speak English is kind of ridiculous, if you think about it," he told ABC's George Stephanopoulos in an interview on "Good Morning America."

"Are we going to close all of the foreign language classes? Is he — why would he have a contract with Univision for his beauty pageant?" Bush asked, referencing the businessman's past deals.

"I mean, this is a diverse country. We should celebrate that diversity and embrace a set of shared values," Bush said.

Trump "doesn't believe in those shared values," he added. "He wants to tear us down. He doesn't believe in tolerance. He doesn't believe in the things that have created the greatness of this country."

Asked how he reacted to Trump's latest remark, Bush said he laughed.

"I mean, this is a joke. I was in a press gaggle. We heard people ask me a question in Spanish and I answered it in Spanish," Bush said, recounting the times in which he has recently spoken Spanish on the trail. "I was in a classroom two days ago ... where these young, beautiful kids all speak English but they also speak Spanish and one of them asked me a question in Spanish. I answered it. That's the reality of America.

That's the goodness of America. That's the kind of America we want."

While "you laugh because it's so bizarre," Bush said of Trump's barbs, "it's hurtful for a lot of people."

"And Mr. Trump knows this. He's appealing to people's angst and their fears rather than their higher hopes," he added.

Trump is out to insult everyone, Bush said, arguing that he does not have actual plans to improve the country, particularly on immigration.

"His policy is not serious, it would cost hundreds of billions of dollars, it's probably unconstitutional, it would violate civil liberties. If he actually had to debate the points on taxes and regulation, people would be surprised that he is a liberal in many of these views. The expressed views he has on taxes, on health care, are views that are more closely similar to those of Hillary Clinton," Bush went on.

Responding to the same question that Stephanopoulos asked of Trump yesterday, Bush said that he would support Trump over Clinton or whoever becomes the Democratic nominee because the party needs to be "unified," but at the same time urged his rival "to find a way to lessen the divisive language."

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