George W.
George W. Bush, campaigning for his brother for the first time, says Jeb has the backbone and optimism to be President and that Americans should avoid nominating someone who “mirrors and inflames our frustration.”
The former president and his “big little brother” Jeb Bush tag-teamed Monday for a forceful denunciation of the man currently at the top of their Republican party’s polls, the billionaire Donald Trump.
Mr Bush the elder received a hero’s welcome in South Carolina, where he remains a revered figure by many, and sought to steer the 2016 race away from the mudslinging and personal insults and toward character and judgment.
With Jeb 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’ve seen Jeb in action. He’ll be a strong and steady hand when confronted with the unexpected,” Mr Bush said of his brother, who is seeking a boost to his fortunes in South Carolina.
The southeastern state on Saturday becomes the third to vote in the presidential nominating contest leading up to the November election. Mr Trump’s controversial remarks and policy positions — last year he called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States — have caused an uproar.
But 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 American political convention on its head. George W’s message: don’t 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,” Mr Bush told some 3,000 people in North Charleston, one of Jeb’s largest crowds since the Florida ex-governor launched his presidential bid last June. “There seems to be a lot of name calling going on,” Mr Bush said.
“Labels are for soup cans. The presidency is a serious job that requires sound judgment and good ideas,” he added, stressing that his brother is the Republican candidate “who can win in November.” Some attendees openly admitted they had come to see the former President, not necessarily to hear Jeb Bush.
