Republican presidential candidate and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (left) shakes hands with his brother former President George W. Bush as Laura Bush and Sen. Lindsey Graham look on. (AP PHOTO)
CHARLESTON, South Carolina — George W. Bush never mentioned Donald Trump. But with his folksy touch, the former president unleashed a tough takedown of the billionaire businessman who has upended the Republican Party.
“I understand Americans are angry and frustrated,” Bush said Monday during his first campaign rally for his brother, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. “But we do not need somebody in the Oval Office who mirrors and inflames our anger and frustration.”
Trump’s rise has confounded the Bush family and its allies. But despite months of predicting the brash billionaire would fade, it’s Jeb Bush whose White House hopes are in peril, particularly if he’s unable to pull out a strong showing in Saturday’s South Carolina primary.
The race has entered an increasingly nasty phase in South Carolina, with numerous negative ads airing on local television following an unusually caustic debate this past weekend in which Trump confronted Jeb Bush about his brother’s record as president.
Trump has led polls in South Carolina, but is trying to fend off attacks from his chief rival, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who describes himself as “a consistent conservative” who can be trusted.
Bush is trying to pull ahead of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Ohio Gov. John Kasich to emerge as the more mainstream alternative to Trump and Cruz, both of whom the party establishment considers unelectable.