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Jeb Bush said Wednesday his debate performance is not about getting "zingers"
The former Florida governor explained why he attacked Trump repeatedly at Tuesday's debate
Jeb Bush took some of this sharpest jabs at Donald Trump at Tuesday’s CNN’s Republican debate and the morning after, the former Florida governor continued to jab the billionaire businessman as all show and no substance.
“I don’t think he’s a serious candidate. And I don’t know why others don’t feel compelled to point that out. But I did,” he said Wednesday on CNN’s “New Day.” “And I think I got the chance to express my views and compare them to someone who talks a big game, but really hasn’t thought it through.”
Bush, who repeatedly and aggressively attacked Trump at the debate, said his jabs were aimed exposing the flaws in Trump’s strategy. Bush’s attack line where he lambasted the business mogul for trying to insult his way into the presidency became a viral moment of the event and Bush repeated a similar line to “New Day.”
“Donald Trump’s not going to be president of the United States by insulting every group on the planet – insulting women, POWs, war heroes, Hispanics, disabled, African-Americans,” Bush said. “You can’t insult your way into the presidency. And I think some people have to stand up to that.”
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Bush said his delivery of one-liners when challenged by Trump isn’t motivated by a desire to get “zingers.”
“The performance of this is not why I’m running for president,” he said. “The debates are important because millions of people watch it. I get that. But performing is not what a president does.”
“It’s not that I’m not comfortable with it, it’s not my motivation. It’s not who I am. I don’t wake up each day and say, ‘Now I can have a zinger and attack somebody,’” he added.
Bush said his approach is to offer solutions to those things that worry Americans most.
“People are angry. They have lots of anxiety for good reasons, but preying on that is not how you win,” he said. “You have to give people a sense that you can fix these big, complex things both in foreign policy and our domestic economy.”
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GOP prime-time debate verbal attacks:
