Monday on MSNBC’s “MTP Daily,” host Chuck Todd played a clip of a Sunday interview he had with Republican presidential candidate former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL), who said of his rival Donald Trump’s once-more liberal views, “You can’t have that kind of transformation. This is all a game for him. He’s just positioning himself to play like he’s a conservative.”
When asked if he thinks Trump has been humbled after Saturday night’s debate, and a second place finish in Iowa, Bush said, “No, not even close. But I’m the only guy going after him. Both Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio had a chance to go after him, and they went back into the witness protection program.”
Host Chuck Todd asked, “Why is that?”
Bush said, “This guy is not conservative.”
Todd asked, “Do they look at what happened to you early—they’re afraid of him?”
Bush said, “Yeah, I think they’re afraid of him. Look, Donald Trump last night proved that he’s not a conservative when he talked about eminent domain the way he did. He totally misses it. A conservative would understand what I said. Trump thinks that’s appropriate behavior, to take an elderly woman’s home, tear it down, create a parking lot for the limos for high rollers to go to one of his failed casinos. That’s not the proper use of eminent domain. And as you know, in Florida, we passed a constitutional amendment to protect private property owners. And never allow the police powers of government to be used for taking property like that.”
Todd said, ‘What do you make of his definition of conservative last night?
Bush said, “I don’t, it just went into the ether. There’s nothing—this guy is not a conservative. What part of conservative does he know? It wasn’t that long ago he was for a tax on assets of 14.5%. He admires the single-payer system. He was not pro-second amendment, because he lived in New York. Remember that? He supported, on this show, about 12 years ago, a partial birth abortion. You can’t have that kind of transformation. This is all a game for him. he’s just positioning himself to play like he’s a conservative.”
Todd said, “Do you think, though, some of his supporters, they don’t care he’s not a conservative? That’s probably why these attacks haven’t hurt him as much as they should?”
Bush replied, “I think there’s some truth to that. I think people are latching on to what they perceive to be the strong horse. But that’s not strong when you disparage people the way he does. That’s not a sign of strength, that’s a sign of deep insecurity.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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