Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Thursday that his chief opponent, front-runner Donald Trump, is “trying to insult his way” to the White House.
“I think Donald Trump is trying to insult his way to the presidency and it’s not gonna work,” Bush told ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “People want an uplifting hopeful message. People come to this country to pursue their dreams, sometimes they start without speaking English but they learn English and they add vitality to our, to our country and the fact that he would say you only can speak English is kind of ridiculous if you think about it.”
Trump attacked Bush Wednesday, saying that Bush should only speak English while in the U.S. Bush, who often takes and answers questions in Spanish, has been ramping up his hits on Trump lately.
“I think he’s out to get everybody. He doesn’t have a set of plans … as it relates to immigration, his policy is not serious,” Bush said.
Bush, who hopes to win over Hispanic voters, often talks of how he fell in love with his Mexican-American wife Columba while traveling in college. He mocked Trump in his appearance Thursday morning.
“Are we going to close all the foreign language classes? Is he — why would he have a contract with Univision for his beauty pageant,” Bush said.
Trump, meanwhile, had knocked Bush Wednesday in an interview with Breitbart News.
“I like Jeb,” Trump told Breitbart News. “He’s a nice man. But he should really set the example by speaking English while in the United States.”
The spat came just one day after the former Florida governor spoke to a class of bilingual students Tuesday.
“I was in a classroom two days ago La Progressiva High School where these young beautiful kids all speak English but they also speak Spanish and one of them asked me a question in Spanish and I answered it,” Bush said. “That’s the reality of America. That’s the goodness of America. That’s the America we want. So part of it is you laugh because it’s so bizarre but its hurtful for a lot of people and Mr. Trump knows this. He’s appealing to peoples’ angst and their fears rather than their higher hopes.”