Former US president George W. Bush, campaigning for his brother for the first time, said Jeb Bush has the backbone and optimism to be US president and that Americans should avoid nominating someone who “mirrors and inflames our frustration.”
The former president and his “big little brother,” Jeb Bush, on Monday tag-teamed for a forceful denunciation of the man currently at the top of their Republican party’s polls, billionaire real-estate mogul Donald Trump.
George W. Bush received a hero’s welcome in South Carolina, where he remains a revered figure by many, and sought to steer the US presidential race away from mudslinging and personal insults, and toward character and judgment.
With Jeb Bush desperate to score a comeback victory after poor showings in early-voting Iowa and New Hampshire, he said the best applicant for the world’s most powerful job was not necessarily the loudest, but the one who could best apply his skills.
“I have seen Jeb in action. He will be a strong and steady hand when confronted with the unexpected,” George W. Bush said of his brother, who is seeking a boost to his fortunes in South Carolina.
The southeastern state on Saturday is to become the third to vote in the presidential nominating contest leading up to the November election.
Trump’s controversial remarks and policy positions — last year he called for a ban on Muslims entering the US — have caused an uproar.
However, he is an anti-establishment outsider seizing on voter anxiety and anger with Washington, and remains firmly at the top of the polls even after turning US political convention on its head. George W. Bush’s message was: Do not buy into it.
“I understand that Americans are angry and frustrated, but we do not need someone in the Oval Office who mirrors and inflames our anger and frustration,” George W. Bush told about 3,000 people in North Charleston, one of Jeb Bush’s largest crowds since the former Florida governor launched his presidential bid in June last year.
“There seems to be a lot of name calling going on,” George W. Bush said.
“Labels are for soup cans. The presidency is a serious job that requires sound judgement and good ideas,” he added, saying that his brother is the Republican candidate “who can win in November.”
It was a polished speech — filled with “Dubya’s” trademark Texas twang — by a controversial politician, whose family remains highly popular in South Carolina.
Some attendees openly admitted they had come to see the former president, not necessarily to hear Jeb Bush.
Trump rounded on the former president during Saturday’s debate in a bid to blunt any Jeb Bush progress, and he continued the assault on Monday at a news conference, slamming George W. Bush, who was president during the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001.
“So you had that. You obviously had the war which was a big mistake. I think few people would say the war in Iraq was a positive,” Trump said.
Jeb Bush said that Americans should want an experienced hand in charge, especially when it comes to national security.
“Who is going to be the steady hand to keep us safe?” he said.
Trump also scolded US Senator Ted Cruz, his current closest competitor, as “totally unstable” and a “liar” for attacking Trump’s earlier, liberal positions on abortion and healthcare.
In addition, Trump repeated his threat to sue Cruz over his eligibility to be president. Trump is insisting that Cruz, who was born in Canada, is not a natural born citizen as the US Constitution requires candidates to be.
At an event in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, the brash billionaire lashed out at the party itself, calling the Republican National Committee a “disgrace” after he was loudly booed at Saturday’s Republican debate by an audience that Trump said was stacked with establishment lobbyists and donors.
“The RNC better get its act together,” he said.
Trump leads by 20 points over Cruz in the Palmetto State, known for its brutal political atmosphere.
US Senator Marco Rubio, seeking a resurrection after finishing fifth in New Hampshire, is third at 14.3 percent, followed by 10.5 percent for Ohio Governor John Kasich, whose impressive second-placed New Hampshire finish is helping him surge here.
Jeb Bush is fifth at 10 percent, with former neurosurgeon Ben Carson at just 4.5 percent support.
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