Jeb Bush on Trump: “He Needs Therapy”

The Florida governor ramps up his attacks on Trump and Cruz.

Jeb Bush holds a town hall in Bedford, New Hampshire.Jim Cole/AP

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“A steady hand.” Jeb Bush has used that phrase repeatedly throughout the campaign, as he attempts to convince voters that he’s the tried and tested choice for president—the anti-Donald Trump. Bush made that case again today, ahead of Saturday’s Republican debate, at a crowded town hall meeting in Bedford, New Hampshire. Dressed casually in a black fleece and seeming at ease as he heads toward a primary that could either finish off his sputtering campaign or give it the momentum to fight on, Bush waxed wonkishly on everything from corporate inversions to student debt to mental health policy. But he also sharpened his attacks on Trump and Ted Cruz, the GOP front-runners who, he argues, can’t be trusted to steer the ship of state.

“I’m not a psychiatrist or a psychologist, but the guy needs therapy,” Bush said of Trump. And he derided Cruz for talking “about carpet bombing as though that is a policy.”

“For Ted Cruz’s edification,” Bush sniped, “we actually have very sophisticated weapons now. We don’t have to to carpet bomb. We don’t have to kill innocent people.” Then Bush turned back to Trump—whom he claims his rivals have been too timid to attack.

Or saying that you’re going to bomb the S-H-blank-blank out of ISIS. Really? Is that a serious thought? The next commander in chief has to have the backs of the young men and women we send overseas to keep the nation safe. And that kind of talk only endangers their lives. When a candidate says they’re going to ban all Muslims, how hard will it be to build a coalition of Muslim nations to be able to destroy ISIS? We’re living in dangerous times. We’re not running for the back bench of the United States Senate. We’re running for the presidency of the United States.

So far, Bush’s “adult in the room” argument (a version of which, Marco Rubio is also trying to make) has failed to resonate as his campaign of inevitability has been overshadowed by Trump’s wild pronouncements and Cruz’s sharp rhetoric. Headed into Tuesday’s primary, most polls show Bush coming in fifth place, behind Ohio Gov. John Kasich (whose name recognition in New Hampshire is such that his campaign has circulated a mailer titled, “Who is John Kasich?”).

At Saturday’s debate, Bush will have another opportunity to convince Republican voters they need a “steady” leader. But at least one Bush supporter at the town hall was urging Bush to take off the gloves on the debate stage. He invoked the famous 1980 heavyweight title bout between boxers John Tate and Mike Weaver. Going into the 15th round, the undefeated Tate, who was defending the heavyweight title, seemed sure to win. Then Weaver unleashed a left hook that knocked Tate unconscious. “Metaphorically, you’re Mike Weaver, and Donald Trump is John Tate,” this voter told Bush. “Governor, you’re Mike Weaver—throw that punch tonight.”

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

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