Jeb Bush Defends Brother Against Donald Trump’s 9/11 Criticism

Mr Trump’s campaign has so far been characterised by his controversial outbursts – however he still leads in the polls.

Bush’s former counterterror chief Richard Clarke, however, testified that Bush scaled back their anti-terror efforts in the months before the attacks – and apologized to the families of the 9/11 victims for failing to protect their loved ones.

None of it has been overtly nasty yet, at least not by South Florida standards.

“Jeb’s chunk is interesting because these are bettors, and you wonder what they’re betting on”, he said. Let me think. I’m running out of things.

“I wasn’t one who thought I was a front-runner”, he told CBS.

Bush meant to raise such staggering sums that he would be unbeatable.

Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson posted the best haul of the dozen-plus candidates in the GOP field, with about $20 million.

But Bush beat Ted Cruz, who raised $12 million.

But the dynamic of the race shifted with the unexpected strength and endurance of “outsider” candidates, and in particular Donald Trump, who has promised to pay for his campaign out of his own pocket and has not been actively raising money. Bush ended September with about $10 million in available cash, the campaign says. Team Rubio blamed its slow quarter on summer doldrums.

However, it was too late, Mr Trump continued to air out his feelings toward the Republican establishment. Rand Paul with $2 million and Gov. Chris Christie with just $1.4 million. Bernie Sanders easily take first place, having raised $29.9 million and $26.2 million respectively.

A Miami Herald analysis showed the two candidates drawing the most Florida cash from Miami-Dade, the state’s largest county where both men live: $694,000 for Bush and $200,000 for Rubio.

The roughly $10 million that Rubio and Bush each have on hand is less than that of Sen. Yet he spent $4.6 million. But fundraising rises and falls with perceptions of viability, and Rubio is reported to be getting a fresh look by Las Vegas gambling magnate Sheldon Adelson, who in 2012 invested a small fortune in independent-spending groups. Many voters in early states like Nevada count him among their top contenders in interviews.

Let’s be serious. All the money in the world won’t help promote a candidate with widely disliked views. It was an easy opportunity for him to talk instead about what a nice guy he is – charitable donations, ways he may have assisted NYC after 9/11, how he’s consoled loved ones when they’ve had setbacks, whatever. Their donors – the ones willing to speak on the record – also say they’re pleased.

“Gun control has been rejected time and again by the American people, most recently in the 2014 election cycle when over 90 percent of NRA-backed candidates won election”, Mortensen said.