Donald Trump and Jeb Bush are taking their war to the next level

Advertisement

Advertisement
AP_936307593631

AP Photo/Richard Shiro

Donald Trump.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's (R) presidential campaign torched Republican rival Donald Trump in a new campaign ad released Tuesday.

Bush's attack ad purports to reveal the "real" Trump and features a series of clips from years-old interviews in which the real-estate mogul describes more liberal beliefs than he now holds.

"I'm very pro-choice," Trump says in one clip.

"You'd be shocked if I said that, in many cases, I probably identify more as a Democrat," he says in another.

The ad comes as Bush and Trump have been increasingly sparring on the campaign trail. Trump, who has dominated in the polls since entering the race, frequently pillories Bush as a "low-energy person" and released his own sharply negative ad on Monday that blasted Bush's softer tone on illegal immigration.

Advertisement

Bush responded on Monday by questioning Trump's own immigration record, while his campaign touted the former governor's own record on combating crime.

"Who's the real @realDonaldTrump? He donated to sanctuary city supporting @NancyPelosi and called her 'The Greatest,'" Bush wrote on Twitter.

Bush ad is similar to one launched a couple weeks ago by another presidential candidate, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky). Both ads noted that Trump has showered praise on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential front-runner, and that he once supported a single-payer healthcare system.

At the time, Trump dismissed the criticism as "old stuff" while blasting Paul. 

"Rand Paul is doing so poorly in the polls he has to revert to old footage of me discussing positions I no longer hold," he said. "Unless you are a piece of unyielding granite, over the years positions evolve as they have in my case. Ronald Reagan, as an example, was a Democrat with a liberal bent who became a conservative Republican."

Advertisement

Trump even trashed Paul's golf game in his lengthy golf game responding to the ad. 

"Recently, Rand Paul called me and asked me to play golf. I easily beat him on the golf course and will even more easily beat him now, in the world in the politics," he said.

Accordingly, it would seem likely Trump will eventually respond to Bush's latest broadside, though his campaign declined to comment Tuesday morning.

View Bush's ad below:

Advertisement