Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush — who along with a few other 2016 GOP presidential candidates still refuses to support Donald Trump — said he still can’t vote for either Mr. Trump or likely Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
“I can’t vote for Hillary Clinton and I can’t vote for Donald Trump, and it breaks my heart,” Mr. Bush said in an interview that aired on MSNBC Monday evening. “This is my the first time in my adult life I’m confronted with this dilemma.”
“A lot of the governors, I would have been very comfortable with,” Mr. Bush said. “John Kasich I thought ran a great campaign, and [Marco] Rubio, [Ted] Cruz. There are a lot of people. The bar’s not that high for me. I’m not suggesting that you have to be a perfect candidate.”
Mr. Bush was one of the more aggressive critics of Mr. Trump during the 2016 GOP presidential primary race, but he dropped out of the race after a disappointing finish in South Carolina.
“This is a decision that’s painful for me,” he said. “I love my country like everybody else does, and I see us languishing at a time when we should just be leading the world.”
Mr. Bush said if Mr. Trump loses in a landslide, he’ll feel “sad,” and if he wins, he’ll be “worried.”
He said he doesn’t want to ask his parents about who they’re voting for.
“I don’t want to know. Some things, parents just need to be doing their thing without knowing,” he said. “I don’t want to know [because] I don’t want to say.”
Asked by Nicole Wallace, his former press secretary, if Mr. Trump “scammed our voters,” Mr. Bush said there will be “ample time to talk about that after the election.”
“I don’t think we’re going to build a wall beyond what’s already been planned, and Mexico’s not going to pay for it,” Mr. Bush said. “I don’t think we’re going to ban Muslims. I think we need to reform our entitlement system.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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