It did not take long for Jeb Bush and Donald Trump to begin sparring during Tuesday night’s GOP presidential debate. Bush labeled Trump a “chaos candidate” as evidenced by his recent controversial statements.
Bush argued that Trump’s proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States would make partnering with Arab nations to destroy the Islamic State more difficult. The former Florida governor’s criticism of Trump came in response to a question about why he called Trump “unhinged” after Trump’s Muslim proposal.
“If we’re going to ban all Muslims, how are we going to get them to be part of a coalition to destroy ISIS?” Bush said. “Look, this is not a serious proposal. In fact it will push the Muslim world, the Arab world, away from us at a time when we need to reengage with them, to be able to create a strategy to destroy ISIS. So Donald you know is great at the one-liners, but he’s a chaos candidate and he’d be a chaos president. He would not be the commander in chief we need to keep our country safe.”
Trump responded to Bush’s criticism by doubting that Bush truly meant what he said.
“Jeb doesn’t really believe I’m unhinged,” Trump responded. “He’s said that very simply because he has failed in this campaign. It’s been a total disaster. Nobody cares. And frankly I’m the most solid person up here. I built a tremendous company and all I want to do is make America great again.”
Bush followed by saying that banning all Muslims would make it harder for the U.S. to destroy the Islamic State. The former governor’s criticism of Trump as a “chaos candidate” comes as Bush has been emphasizing the support of veterans and Medal of Honor recipients who support his campaign.
“It is not a serious proposal to say that to the people that you’re asking for their support that they can’t even come to the country to even engage in a dialogue with us? That’s not a serious proposal,” Bush said. “We need a serious leader to deal with this and I believe I’m that guy.”
Bush places fifth in the Washington Examiner‘s newest GOP presidential power rankings. Trump ranks second.
