How Trump Might Destroy Jeb Bush

Ezra Klein: He's found Jeb's Achilles heel, his brother George
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 19, 2015 10:37 AM CDT
How Trump Might Destroy Jeb Bush
Donald Trump and Jeb Bush after the CNN Republican debate on Sept. 16.   (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

If you followed political headlines over the last few days, you know that Donald Trump has been going after Jeb Bush by attacking his brother. After noting that 9/11 occurred on George W. Bush's watch, Trump boasted that his policies would have prevented the attacks. Essentially blaming Bush for 9/11 is "laughable," but it's also "brilliant politics," writes Ben White at CNBC. In a post at Vox, Ezra Klein has a similar take. Even if Trump doesn't end up the nominee, "it's increasingly clear he's going to destroy Jeb Bush before he loses." Trump has realized that Bush's biggest weakness is his brother, and he's relentlessly piling on. On Twitter, Trump asked, "Jeb, why did your brother attack and destabalize the Middle East by attacking Iraq when there were no weapons of mass destruction? Bad info?"

Bush, meanwhile, is defending his brother while twisting himself in knots trying to answer questions like this one from CNN's Jake Tapper regarding 9/11: "If your brother and his administration bear no responsibility at all, how do you then make the jump that President Obama and Secretary Clinton are responsible for what happened at Benghazi?" Trump is reminding Republicans that if they choose Jeb Bush, they'll have to answer questions like that one—and answer for George Bush's polices—all through the general election, writes Klein. Click for his full column. (More Donald Trump 2016 stories.)

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