During Wednesday night’s second Republican debate, Donald Trump told Jeb Bush he never tried to build casinos in Florida.
But the business tycoon attempted to build casinos in Miami in 2013, and lobby then-Gov. Bush by saying that building Trump casinos would benefit his state.
“If Miami doesn’t do casinos, that would be a terrible mistake,” Trump said in a 2013 interview. “Taxes would be able to be reduced substantially and Miami is the only place that Las Vegas is really concerned about — in the United States.”
The casinos were never built, a fact that Trump was reminded of during the debate. When asked if he was influenced by special interest groups, Bush responded that he was more than capable of standing up to big bucks, using Trump tempting him to build casinos in Florida as an example.
“I did not,” Trump responded on stage to Jeb.
“Yes you did,” Bush quipped, as the two continued to argue.
Trump held a fundraiser for Bush in Trump Towers in 1998, donating more than $50,000 to the Florida Republican Party. But despite his efforts to create good favor with the incoming governor, Bush denied the proposal one year later.
“I am opposed to casino gambling in this state and I am opposed whether it is on Indian property or otherwise … The people have spoken and I support their position,” Bush told the St. Petersburg Times, now Tampa Bay Times, in 1999.
“I promise if I wanted it I would have gotten it,” Trump said of the casinos during the debates. “I just will tell you, Jeb made a mistake …The donors, the special interests, the lobbyists have very strong power over these people. I’m spending all of my money, I’ve turned down so much … from special interest and donors, I could have double or triple what he’s got. I turned it down.”
