Donald Trump Still Holds a Grudge Against Jeb Bush

There's one other thing that struck me from President-Elect Trump's interview with 60 Minutes - his incredible pettiness towards Jeb Bush. Here's the exchange between Trump & 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl. Before this exchange, Stahl indicated in her narration that former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush had called to congratulate him:


Lesley Stahl: What did the Bushes say when they called you?


Donald Trump: Well, it was very interesting. I got a call from Father Bush, who is a wonderful man. And he just said, “Congratulations. It was an amazing campaign.” And then I got a call from George and he said-- “Congratulations. It was great.”  And, you know, look, it’s-- it’s a tough situation. I went to war with Jeb. And Jeb’s a nice guy, but it was a nasty campaign. It was a nasty campaign. And, I mean, I’m disappointed in one thing. He signed a pledge and I don’t know how you sign a pledge and then you don’t honor it. It was a rough primary. It’s a rough primary. Although I think the general was probably just as tough. Probably as a combination, it was the roughest ever.


So let's think about it for a moment. Stahl asks Trump about his conversation with Bush 41 & 43 and makes a point of bringing Jeb into the conversation & blasts him for not honoring the pledge GOP candidates signed to support the nominee.

Let's get things straight. It was Trump who said he would not support the GOP nominee if it was anyone other than him at the very first GOP debate in August 2015. Check out the video above if you need to refresh your memory.


He would eventually change that position, but how often did he tease a third party run if he thought he wasn't being treated fairly? By the end of March 2016, he was back to refusing to support a GOP nominee not named Donald Trump. If you need to refresh your memory, check out the video below.

If Jeb Bush had been the GOP nominee, does anyone honestly think Trump would have supported him?


Not on your life.


Of course, Trump utterly humiliated Bush in the primaries and even insulted his wife. Honestly, Bush should have slapped Trump in the face and challenged him to a duel. Of course, had he done so, Trump would have shot him in the back. But if Trump had shot Bush in the back his poll numbers would have gone up.


Alas Bush did not slap Trump. Bush withdrew on the evening of February 20th after finishing a distant fourth and garnering 7.8% of the vote in the South Carolina GOP primary. This was Bush Country, but it was Trump who walked away with all 50 delegates.


Trump rendered Bush into a footnote. No one has given Jeb Bush a moment's thought in nearly nine months. No one, that is, except for Donald Trump. He just can't let it go. The grudge is as strong as it was a year ago and, unless Bush prostrates himself before Trump, it will likely continue until the day he dies. Trump is the very definition of a sore winner. This says a great deal about his character or lack thereof.