AS MOST OF YOU OF COURSE KNOW, FOLLOWING HIS
SHOWING IN SATURDAY'S SOUTH CAROLINA PRIMARY, FORMER
GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA JEB BUSH DROPPED OUT OF THE PRESIDENTIAL
RACE THREE MONTHS AFTER IT APPEARED HE HAD ALREADY DROPPED
OUT OF THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE.
HERE IS WHAT JEB BUSH HAD TO SAY
TO SUPPORTERS WHO UNBELIEVABLY APPEARED NOT TO SEE IT COMING.
I'M PROUD OF THE CAMPAIGN THAT WE HAVE RUN TO UNIFY OUR
COUNTRY, AND TO ADVOCATE CONSERVATIVE SOLUTIONS THAT
WOULD ALLOW MORE AMERICANS TO RISE UP AND REACH THEIR
GOD-GIVEN POTENTIAL.
BUT THE PEOPLE OF IOWA AND SOUTH
CAROLINA AND NEW HAMPSHIRE HAVE SPOKEN, SO TONIGHT I AM SUSPENDING
MY CAMPAIGN.
[GROANS]
YEAH, YEAH.
WE LOVE YOU, JEB.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
IN THIS CAMPAIGN I HAVE STOOD MY GROUND, REFUSING TO BEND TO
THE POLITICAL WINDS.
WE PUT FORWARD DETAILED PLANS TO
ADDRESS THE CHALLENGES WE FACE, BECAUSE DESPITE WHAT YOU MIGHT
HAVE HEARD, IDEAS MATTER, POLICY MATTERS.
I GET IT, I'M ABOUT TO UNDO THE ARGUMENT THAT I'M ABOUT TO
MAKE, BUT OF COURSE THERE IS AN
INEVITABLE -- SOME SYMPATHY FOR HIM.
THIS IS NOT -- I MEAN,
AGAIN -- HE'S NOT A PSYCHOPATH.
AND HE DID -- HE'S BOOKISH.
HIS
POLICIES ARE TERRIBLE, BUT HE
DOES HAVE THEM.
WHICH SETS HIM APART FROM HIS COLLEAGUES.
SO I
HAD A MOMENT -- JUST BECAUSE YOU DON'T LIKE TO SEE ANYBODY
SUFFER PERSONAL HUMILIATION, AND IT IS NOT LIKE HE FOUGHT
VALIANTLY UNTIL THE END AND HUNG IN THERE, HE RAISED ABSURD
AMOUNTS OF MONEY AND HAD A SUPER
PAC, BUT NOTHING EVER HAPPENED.
HE HAD NO GOOD SHOWING ANYWHERE,
HE WAS GOING TO GET DRUMMED ON
SUPER TUESDAY.
EVEN THERE, YOU SEE HIM AS A GUY WHO WEARS
GLASSES, HE HAD THIS BOOKISH DORKINESS.
BUT HE TRIED TO FIX THAT.
WITH THE CONTEXT I THINK -- EVEN THAT, JUST PUT
YOUR DUMB GLASSES ON AND BE A DORK.
ANYWAY, DID YOU FEEL ANY OF THAT?
IT KIND OF FELL APART BEFORE IT GOT GOING.
WITH THAT INFAMOUS
CONVERSATION HE HAD.
THE QUESTION, A SOFTBALL QUESTION
FROM MEGYN KELLY WHICH HE HAD YEARS TO PREPARE FOR, KNOWING
WHAT WE KNOW NOW, WOULD YOU GO IN?
AND HE FUMBLED IT
SPECTACULARLY.
THIS WAS BEFORE HIS NON-ANNOUNCEMENT
ANNOUNCEMENT, DURING THE COURSE
OF WHICH, AS YOU ALLUDED TO, HE RAISED OVER $100 MILLION ON NAME
RECOGNITION ALONE.
SO MY SYMPATHY
FOR HIM IS TEMPERED, I HAVE TO SAY.
NOBODY LIKES ANYBODY -- THE
IGNOMINIOUS FALL FROM GRACE.
AT THE SAME TIME --
I LIKE IT PLENTY FOR SOME PEOPLE.
BELIEVE ME, THERE ARE A COUPLE OF PEOPLE STILL RUNNING FOR
PRESIDENT ON THE REPUBLICAN SIDE, I WON'T FEEL BAD
FOR THEM AT ALL.
HE NEVER LOOKED COMFORTABLE UP THERE, AND IN THE WORLD OF
COMMERCIAL POLITICS, PARTICULARLY IN AMERICA, THAT WE
LIVE IN NOW, IT IS CRITICAL FOR
YOU TO SEEM -- AND YOU ALLUDED TO THE FACT THAT HE IS BOOKISH.
YOU HAVE TO HAVE THAT BOMBASTIC SWAGGER.
HE WAS NEVER ABLE TO
EMERGE, AND HIS FOIL, DONALD
TRUMP, WHO WE' LL COME ONTO LATER ON, TIME AND TIME AGAIN HE KNEW
THE BUTTONS TO PRESS, KNEW HOW
TO COMPLETELY DEFUSE HIM AND EXASPERATE HIM.
AND IT WAS NOT
UNTIL THE VERY END, THAT FINAL
DEBATE, WHERE HE FINALLY FOUND A LITTLE BIT OF HIS SUREFOOTEDNESS
AND GAVE A LITTLE BIT OF IT BACK, BUT BY THEN IT WAS
TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE.
AND IT ONLY SEEMED LIKE A SWAGGER COMPARED TO THE
COMPLETE LACK OF SWAGGER THAT EXISTED BEFORE.
IT WAS NOT IMPRESSIVE.
HIS EXASPERATION -- THE THING THAT DID MAKE ME SMILE IS HE
LOOKS AROUND AT HIS SUPPORTERS AND HE SAYS I'M SHARING THE
STAGE WITH SOMEONE WHO HAS JUST
CALLED THE PREVIOUS REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT A LIAR, SOMEONE WHO
WILLINGLY TOOK US INTO A WAR, HE DIDN'T KEEP US SAFE, AND HE'S
THE FRONT RUNNER.
JUST COMPLETE LACK OF ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND
THAT MOMENTUM, AND THAT OUTSIDER
MENTALITY, THAT POPULIST SWELL, THAT HAS BEEN FUELING DONALD
TRUMP.
AND IT MAKES ME SMILE, BECAUSE IT INDICATES TO ME --
AGAIN, YOU TAKE A LITTLE BIT OF
PLEASURE IN SOMEONE ELSE'S, NOT PAIN, BUT HIS LACK OF CREDULITY
AT THE SITUATION.
BUT IT INDICATES TO ME THAT HE NEVER
HAD HIS FINGER ON THE PULSE.
IT WAS THIS OLD DYNASTY --
WE ARE IN LOS ANGELES, IT IS PRONOUNCED DIE-NASTY.
"DINN-ESTY..."
I CAUGHT MYSELF SAYING IT.
I HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL DINER TONIGHT WITH YOUR FAMILY.
WE COORDINATED THE JACKETS, IF WE DON'T GET ALONG AT LEAST
IT LOOKS LIKE WE ARE GETTING ALONG.
BUT IT DOES SOUND THE DEATH KNELL OF ONE OF THOSE FAMILIES.
WE HAVE ONE LEFT, WHICH IS THE CLINTONS.
AND THE BUSH FAMILY WAS SECOND, ARGUABLY, ONLY TO THE KENNEDYS.
SO IT IS A SIGNIFICANT MOMENT.
IT IS.
IT FEELS SO DIFFERENT FROM THE CLINTONS.
SOME OF THAT
IS OUR OWN BIAS, BUT THE OTHER
PART IS THAT GEORGE HW BUSH -- GEORGE HW BUSH WAS A SERIOUS
PERSON, RIGHT?
WHO I DISAGREED WITH, A GUY WHO LITERALLY HAD
THE SAME DECISION TO MAKE AS HIS
BROTHER -- AS HIS SON -- AND WOULDN'T MAKE IT.
HE MADE A
LOGICAL AND THOUGHTFUL DECISION
ABOUT IRAQ.
AND THEN IN THE MIDDLE OF A HEATED CAMPAIGN
THOUGHT I NEED TO RAISE TAXES,
AND SAID SO.
AND THEN LOST.
SO YOU CAN DISAGREE WITH GEORGE HW
BUSH A TON, AND I DO, BUT THERE ARE MOMENTS WHEN YOU THINK, THAT
WAS A NOBLE POLITICIAN WITH WHOM
I DISAGREED.
HIS SON WAS A BUFFOON, SO IN A SENSE I BRISTLE
TO A COMPARISON WITH THE
CLINTONS, BECAUSE I OBJECT --
I JUST MEAN NAME RECOGNITION.
THEY ARE GROWN-UPS, AT LEAST.
HUGE PROBLEMS WITH THEM TOO, BUT
POLICY-WISE THE DIFFERENCES
BETWEEN GEORGE HW BUSH AND BILL CLINTON, I'M NOT SURE IT WAS
THAT DRAMATIC ON SOME THINGS.
WE WILL GET TO SOME OF WHAT
SOME OF THE MEDIA WILL GO THROUGH, POOR JEB BUSH, IT WAS
JUST NOT HIS TIME.
AS ELLIOTT MENTIONED, THIS GUY, JEB BUSH --
THAT'S THE NEW SLOGAN.
THAT'S THE NEW EMOJI.
IT WAS A QUESTION MARK FOR SOME TIME,
WASN'T IT?
JEB?
POOR OLD JEB.
BUT YOU EVEN SAW IN HIS SPEECH THERE, IN HIS CONCESSION AND
THEN HIS ANNOUNCEMENT THAT HE WAS SUSPENDING HIS CAMPAIGN,
AGAIN, I KNOW THE REASONS, BUT I STILL LOVE THAT THEY SUSPEND
THEIR CAMPAIGNS.
LIKE HE'S GOING TO BE RIGHT BACK.
I GOT IT, HE
CAN STILL RAISE MONEY TO PAY OFF HIS DEBT.
HE DOESN'T HAVE ANY
DEBT, I CAN'T IMAGINE HE DOES.
I GUESS HE COULD.
HE HAD A COUPLE
OF GIVE ME A BREAK MOMENTS, EVEN IN THAT SPEECH.
BUT JAYAR
JACKSON, OUR EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, HAS PUT TOGETHER 2 1/2 MINUTES
OF GREAT JEB MOMENTS FROM THIS
CAMPAIGN, AND A CLEAR EXAMPLE IN THIS LITTLE MONTAGE OF WHY THIS
GUY WILL NOT BE THE 45TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
TALK ABOUT YOUR RESILIENCE, BECAUSE PEOPLE DON'T THINK
YOU KNOW HOW TO FIGHT.
MAN, THEY DON'T KNOW ME.
I EAT NAILS WHEN I WAKE UP, THEN I EAT BREAKFAST.
[INAUDIBLE]
IF IOWA VOTERS DON'T UNDERSTAND ME, THEY ARE EATING
MONSANTO-LACED AGRICULTURE PRODUCTS.
WHAT YOU THINK THE CHANCES ARE THAT WASHINGTON SHOULD CHANGE
THE NICKNAME TO THE FOOTBALL TEAM?
I DON'T THINK THEY SHOULD
CHANGE IT.
I DON'T FIND IT OFFENSIVE, NATIVE AMERICAN
TRIBES GENERALLY DON'T FIND IT
OFFENSIVE.
I MISSING SOMETHING HERE, I GUESS.
SUPERGIRL IS ON TV, I SAW IT WHEN I WAS WORKING OUT THIS
MORNING.
THERE IS AN AD
PROMOTING SUPERGIRL.
SHE LOOKS PRETTY HOT.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT CHANNEL IT IS ON, BUT I'M LOOKING FORWARD
TO THAT.
IT IS NOT THE -- DOES ANYBODY BLAME MY BROTHER FOR THE ATTACKS
ON 9/11?
IF THEY DO, THEY ARE MARGINALIZED IN OUR SOCIETY.
IT IS WHAT HE DID AFTERWARDS THAT MATTERS, AND I'M PROUD
OF HIM AND SO ARE A BUNCH OF OTHER PEOPLE.
HE WANTS TO BE A TOUGH GUY TONIGHT.
A LOT OF TIMES -- LET ME TALK.
QUIET.
YOU THINK HE'S GOING TO SHUSH HILLARY CLINTON?
WHY DON'T YOU INTERRUPT LIKE THE OTHER PEOPLE DO?
REALLY?
I WOULD SAY THAT.
I'VE GOTTEN BETTER AT INTERRUPTING MOM, COME ON.
COME ON.
IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME AND KILL BABY HITLER, WOULD YOU?
I NEED TO KNOW.
AND?
HELL YEAH, I WOULD.
EVEN IF HE WAS REALLY CUTE?
LOOK, YOU'VE GOT TO STEP UP, MAN.
THAT WOULD BE KEY.
BUT I WOULD DO IT.
I MEAN, HITLER.
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
FIX THAT MESS AS FAST AS I CAN.
THAT'S IT?
THANK YOU.
THEY
ARE KICKING ME OUT THE DOOR, THEY ARE KICKING ME OUT THE
DOOR.
GOVERNOR, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR JOINING US TODAY.
I BELIEVE YOUR SCHEDULE HAS A HARD STOP.
I WON'T BE OUT THERE BLOWHARDING, TALKING A GOOD GAME
WITHOUT STEPPING UP.
THE NEXT PRESIDENT SHOULD BE QUIETER, BUT
SEND A SIGNAL THAT WE WILL ACT
IN THE NATIONAL SECURITY INTEREST OF THIS COUNTRY,
TO GET BACK INTO THE BUSINESS OF CREATING A MORE PEACEFUL WORLD.
PLEASE CLAP.
I MEAN, IF HE HAD STAYED IN THE RACE, THAT COULD HAVE BEEN A
REALLY EFFECTIVE CAMPAIGN AD
AGAINST HIM.
AND IN AN ERA -- YOU SEE IT RIGHT THERE.
WITH
DONALD TRUMP DOMINATING THE CONVERSATION, THE DEBATES, NEWS
CYCLE DAY AFTER DAY, ALMOST WITHOUT EXCEPTION, IT MUST BE
LIKE 95% OF ALL CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THIS CAMPAIGN RELATE IN
SOME WAY TO TRUMP, AND WITH HIS SORT OF BOMBASTIC STRENGTH THAT
HE PROJECTS, AND WHICH CLEARLY A CERTAIN SEGMENT OF THE
REPUBLICAN PARTY, WHATEVER SEGMENT HE IS HITTING, 33, 32,
THEY LOVE THAT STRENGTH.
AND THIS GUY, WHO ALLOWED HIMSELF TO
BE PUSHED OFF THE STAGE BY A MASON, OR WHOEVER THAT WAS -- HE
DOESN'T HAVE TO GO, I DON'T GO UNTIL MY NEXT EVENT UNTIL I GET
THERE, I'M GOVERNOR BUSH.
I WILL FINISH.
IMAGINE IF HE SAID THAT,
THE CROWD WOULD HAVE BEEN LIKE,
YEAH.
YOU BULLIED THAT GUY.
THAT IS WHAT WE WANT, THAT IS GREAT.
AND THEN THE PLEASE CLAP ONE.
BUT WHATEVER THAT IS, THE
KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS OR WHATEVER, A ROTARY CLUB -- EDWIN, ALWAYS
WITH THE ANSWER.
THE GUY IS LIKE 90 YEARS OLD.
HE GOT PUSHED OFF
THE STAGE, AND THEN HE WALKED OFF, AND IF YOU LET THE VIDEO
RUN, HE WALKED IN FRONT OF THE STAGE AND WENT OVER AND FIXED
HIS TEA.
TEA!
HE DIDN'T EVEN HAVE COFFEE.
THE PRESIDENT
DOESN'T DRINK TEA.
THE PRIME MINISTER DRINKS TEA.
TRUE ENOUGH.
REVEALING, I THINK.
THIS WAS THE WORST YEAR TO BE THAT GUY.
THAT WAS GOING TO BE MY THING.
BUT THAT IS WHAT IT COMES DOWN
TO, RIGHT?
IT IS WHAT THE PRESIDENCY IS ABOUT.
IT'S ABOUT
THAT CHUTZPAH, THAT BRAVADO, WHATEVER ADJECTIVE YOU WANT TO
USE.
SO THE FACT THAT HE --
AND THAT IS WHAT HE NEVER GOT HIS HEAD AROUND.
AND I DON'T WANT TO SEEM LIKE HE WOULD HAVE WON IN ANOTHER
YEAR, AND THAT IS WHAT WE WILL GET INTO, BUT IT IS IN STARK
CONTRAST TO WHAT HAPPENED THIS YEAR.
HIS INABILITY EVEN TO
CONTROL A STAGE AT THE ROTARY
CLUB MADE HIS WEAKNESS EXACERBATED BEYOND WHAT IT WOULD
HAVE BEEN IN A NORMAL YEAR.
AND ARGUABLY HIS TIME -- SOME COMMENTATORS ARE SUGGESTING
THAT HIS TIME TO RUN WOULD HAVE BEEN THE LAST CYCLE.
THAT ALSO STRIKES ME AS NONSENSICAL.
THIS IS A HEADLINE
TODAY IN POLITICO, GRAPHIC 1.
JEB, THE UNLUCKIEST BUSH.
LET'S LEAVE THAT UP THERE FOR A MOMENT.
THE UNLUCKIEST BUSH.
THERE IS A PEW RESEARCH POLL SHOWING THAT THE UNLUCKIEST BUSH
IS THE 19TH LUCKIEST PERSON IN AMERICA.
YOU WERE BORN TO POWER
AND WEALTH AND ONLY GOT TO BE GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA AND RUN FOR
PRESIDENT AND FINISHED FIFTH.
THAT IS NOT UNLUCKY.
HE IS INCREDIBLY LUCKY, THAT GUY GOT
TO BE GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA.
JEB
BUSH, THE LUCKIEST BUSH BY FAR.
HOW DID HE WIN ANYTHING?
SORRY, I'VE GOT TO GO.
MY SPEECH IS UP, THE LITTLE GUY WITH A
BEARD AND GLASSES IS TELLING ME I HAVE TO GO.
I DON'T KNOW,
SOMEHOW -- AND SO THERE WILL BE AN EFFORTS TO DEFEND HIM, THAT
HE WAS SERIOUS AND TALKED ABOUT THE ISSUES AND GOT DRIVEN OUT BY
THESE GUYS THAT DON'T.
AND THAT STORYLINE -- THERE IS SOME TRUTH
IN THAT, BUT IT IS CERTAINLY NOT
THE MAIN TRUTH.
NO.
HE JUST FOUNDERED FROM THE BEGINNING, AS WE INDICATED.
THE
OTHER SORT OF KNIFE IN HIS SIDE THE ENTIRE TIME WAS THAT HIS
MENTEE, RUBIO, TO HAVE THE TEMERITY TO RUN IN THE SAME TIME
AS HIM, AND HE COULD NEVER
REALLY GET PAST THAT.
SO THEN AFTER FAILING TO ATTACK DONALD
TRUMP, HE THEN TRIED IN VAIN TO ATTACK MARCO RUBIO.
AND HE NEVER
LOOKS STRONG, HE WAS UNABLE TO CARRY OFF THAT BRAVADO,
THAT IS JUST NOT HIM, SO IT LACKS AUTHENTICITY.
I AM NOT A CONSERVATIVE WHO RESPECTS STRENGTH, BUT I DON'T
RESPECT WEAKNESS, AND I SEE
WEAKNESS IN JEB BUSH.
THAT DUMB POLITICO PEACE, JEB, THE
UNLUCKIEST BUSH -- I GET IT, IT IS JUST A HEADLINE, BUT IT IS
THE DUMBEST CONCEPT EVER.
IT GOES ON TO SAY THIS, THIS IS
GRAPHIC 2A --
REALLY?
NO, COME ON.
IT ALL JUST HAPPENED TO HIM.
ELLIOTT JUST ALLUDED TO THIS --
THAT IS FROM THE PIECE IN POLITICO.
THE NOTION THAT WE
JUST SAW WHAT HAPPENED TO JEB, AND IT IS NOT JUST BECAUSE
DONALD TRUMP BULLIED HIM OFF THE STAGE, PEOPLE HATE HIS BROTHER,
AND I DON'T CARE WHAT POLL YOU SHOW ME OF REPUBLICANS WHO THINK
HIS BROTHER IS OKAY.
WHEN YOU ASK REPUBLICANS, PEOPLE WHO
RESPECT STRENGTH AND POWER, OR EVEN THE PERCEPTION OF STRENGTH
AND POWER, THEY ARE NOT GOING TO SAY THEY HATE GEORGE W. BUSH.
BUT THEY KNOW HE WAS A FAILURE,
THEY KNOW IRAQ WAS WRONG, THEY KNOW THE ECONOMY TANKED, THEY
KNOW AT A BARE MINIMUM, HE SPENT
TOO MUCH MONEY.
THAT IS SOMETHING THEY CAN RELATE TO.
SO
THE IDEA THAT IN 2012 A CAMPAIGN THAT WOULD'VE STARTED IN 2011,
WHEN HIS BROTHER LEFT OFFICE IN
2009 -- IN 2011 WE WILL BE READY FOR ANOTHER ONE?
HE IS THE WORST
PRESIDENT OF THE 20TH CENTURY.
HE WOULD HAVE GOTTEN ANNIHILATED BY BARACK OBAMA IF SOMEHOW
REPUBLICANS HAD BEEN DIM ENOUGH TO GIVE HIM THE NOMINATION,
WHICH THEY WOULDN'T HAVE.
THE SAME THING WOULD HAVE HAPPENED
THEN, HE JUST WOULD HAVE LOST A LESS CONTENTIOUS RACE TO MITT
ROMNEY.
HE WOULD HAVE BEEN RUNNING IN THE SUMMER OF 2011, 2
1/2 YEARS AFTER HIS BROTHER LEFT
OFFICE.
IT IS INCONCEIVABLE.
SO FOR JEB THEN TO GO ON AND SAY
THIS --
EVEN THAT QUOTE DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE.
WHO BLEW AN
OPPORTUNITY IN 2012 WAS I THINK THE GUY WHO GOT THAT LAST
WEEK, CHRIS CHRISTIE.
BRIDGE GATE, THAT WAS A CAN-DO GET IT
DONE REPUBLICAN WITH BASICALLY CONSERVATIVE CREDENTIALS NO
WORSE THAN MITT ROMNEY, AND ARGUABLY BECAUSE CHRISTIE DID
NOT HAVE TO LUG ROMNEYCARE AROUND WITH HIM, HE MIGHT HAVE
HAD BETTER CONSERVATIVE CREDENTIALS EVEN THOUGH IN
REALITY THEY ARE SIMILAR.
AND CHRIS CHRISTIE WOULD HAVE BEEN A
DANGEROUS GENERAL ELECTION OPPONENT, HE MISSED HIS
OPPORTUNITY.