Gov. Jeb Bush’s campaign is shrugging off a media furor about the candidate’s refusal today to repeat his November statement that he would support Donald Trump if Trump wins the nomination.
“He said he would support the nominee and [that] Trump won’t be it repeatedly,” said spokesman Tim Miller when Breitbart asked about the afternoon media mini-storm.
As described in MSNBC, Bush was repeatedly asked to say if he still would support Trump, during a campaign-stop visit to a law firm in Manchester, N.H.
But Bush is trying to win the nomination, so it makes no sense for him to devote any time — especially during his own campaign stop — to effectively endorse Trump for the job he is seeking for himself.
The exchange, according to MSNBC, went like this:
“… After the event, Bush repeatedly ducked questions from reporters as to whether he would support Trump, who leads Bush in state and national polls by a wide margin, should the billionaire earn the GOP nomination.
“Look, he’s not going to be the nominee,” Bush said.
“But if by some chance–“ a reporter began before being cut off.
“He’s not going to be the nominee,” Bush said.
Bush was later asked whether the current front-runner was “a better choice than Hillary Clinton.”
“He’s not going to win the nomination,” he said. “As people in New Hampshire get closer to this they’re going to want to know who has the capability of winning the general election and who can be president.”
On Nov. 29, Bush answered the question by saying he’d support Trump because “because anybody is better than Hillary Clinton.”
According to CNN poll released Dec. 8, Trump has 32 percent support in New Hampshire, while Bush is stuck at 8 percent in the state.
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