After facing months of constant abuse from Donald Trump, Jeb Bush has finally almost responded in kind. Shuffling from foot to foot among a crowd of supporters at a town-hall event in Contoocook, New Hampshire, on Saturday, the visibly frustrated Bush decided he just couldn’t take it anymore and finally called Trump “a jerk.” The comment was preceded by yet another personal attack from Trump (“The last thing our country needs is another BUSH! Dumb as a rock!”) on Friday, as well as a question from a man with Asperger’s syndrome at the town hall who asked Bush what he would do to help people with disabilities as president. After referencing his efforts to help the disabled while governor of Florida, the candidate then launched into an aside on his GOP rival:
Just one other thing — I gotta get this off my chest — Donald Trump is a jerk. You cannot insult your way to the presidency. You can’t disparage women, Hispanics, disabled people … Who is he kidding? This country is far better than that. And the idea that he’s actually running for president and insulting people is deeply discouraging, to be honest with you, and I think we should reject that out of hand. I hope you’re going to reject that by voting for me. But, a guy like that should not be the front-running candidate of our great party. That is not how we win.
After the crowd applauded, Bush added, “I feel better now. I gave myself therapy there. Thank you for allowing me to do that.”
Watch his remarks, which were captured by CNN, below:
