Bush calls Trump ‘a jerk’ on campaign trail

Trump came back to Bush several times during a meandering speech that lasted more than an hour, rejecting out of hand any possible Bush endorsement (“It doesn’t mean anything”) and opining on the former Florida governor’s capabilities (“Close to incompetent”).

Washington (CNN)After insisting that enough damage had been done and swearing off future insults toward Jeb Bush, Donald Trump on Friday returned to badgering his favorite presidential foe. Jones, Smith, Young, really, any last name would do for the former Florida governor who announced his candidacy like he was already the frontrunner and quickly raised $120 million to win the nomination.

NASHUA, New Hampshire (CNN) – After his fourth town hall on a busy campaign day, Jeb Bush got some good news.

Bush, for his part, says he’s stepping up his criticism on Trump now because Trump is displaying shallow ideas on foreign policy.

At Saturday’s Democratic debate, ABC News host Martha Raddatz asked Hillary Clinton about the USA intervention in Libya, a military campaign Clinton supported as secretary of state, calling it “smart power at its best”.

One of the biggest unanswered questions about Donald Trump’s presidential campaign is whether the large crowds he’s drawing are there to see a pop-culture celebrity or someone they actually plan to vote for to occupy the White House.

“I hated that”, Bush said on CBS’s Face the Nation. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), has not been able to register in Republican-primary polls. Rubio climbs to 16 percent, Bush to 13 percent, and Carson to 11 percent.

Bush followed his “jerk” outburst against Trump by telling his audience: “I feel better now”.

“I’m very proud of the Utah voter”, Jones said.

“You can not insult your way to the presidency”, Bush said, repeating a line he used against Trump in Tuesday’s GOP debate.

The gulf grew even starker among voters with college degrees: College graduates favored Trump in online surveys over live telephone by about 10 percentage points. Well, if you squint, and imagine that Mr. Trump implodes while Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz fatally damage each other, and Chris Christie proves too liberal for Republican primary voters, then you can just see a winning path. It’s pretty narrow though.

Trump, of course, has never been shy about attacking Bush. Despite his more moderate position on immigration relative to Trump or Cruz, the poll still found Bush performing – albeit within the margin of error – in the general election at this point.

“I’m fighting the fight”, Bush said.

Separately, Right to Rise USA, the super PAC backing Bush’s bid, is airing a new ad nationally on Fox News Channel that uses debate clips to highlight Bush’s attacks on Trump.

What’s dragging Bush down: He’s the least-favorable Republican candidate in the field. One-third of the respondents took the survey online.

“He’s the only one who can get it done because he’s got the money and the power to get it done”, she said.