The response to Trump’s incendiary and often hateful comments from many of the other Republicans in the field has largely been silence, a mild rebuke over language choice, or outright agreement. (Jeb Bush echoed Trump’s use of “anchor babies” during a debate this week, Ted Cruz called his comments on immigration “bold” and “brash.”)
But on Thursday, Bush took Trump to task—for his record of supporting liberal policies. “There’s a big difference between Donald Trump and me,” the former governor of Florida said at a forum in New Hampshire. “I’m a proven conservative with a record. He isn’t.”
He continued:
I cut taxes every year; he’s proposed the largest tax increase in mankind’s history, not just our own country’s history. I have been consistently pro-life; he until recently was for partial-birth abortion. I’ve never met a person that actually thought that was a good idea. I believe we need to reform our health care system to make sure we stop the suppression of wages and allow people to have access to insurance; he’s for a single-payer system.
“He actually advocates these things,” Jeb Bush said. “He’s been a Democrat longer than a Republican.”
GET SPLINTER RIGHT IN YOUR INBOX
The Truth Hurts