Jeb Bush campaign trolls 'very sensitive' Donald Trump after he accuses 'arrogant' woman of being a plant
"The arrogant young woman who questioned me in such a nasty fashion at No Labels yesterday was a Jeb staffer! HOW CAN HE BEAT RUSSIA & CHINA?" Trump exclaimed on Twitter.
The day before, Trump was challenged by a woman, identified by the Burlington Free Press as 18-year-old Lauren Batchelder, while taking questions at a event hosted by the nonpartisan group No Labels.
Batchelder told Trump that she didn't feel he was a "friend to women."
"I knew I shouldn't have picked her. I knew I shouldn't have picked her," Trump joked before saying he would "cherish" women as president.
"I had a woman who was in charge of the building of Trump Tower before anybody would have even thought of it and did a fantastic job," he said. "My mother was one of the great people of the world, maybe the greatest ever."
After Trump finished, Batchelder said she didn't get to ask her full question, which was about equal pay and abortion. Trump said that women would get equal pay for equal work in his administration and that he was pro-life.
As Talking Points Memo reported, Trump's campaign subsequently connected Batchelder's social media profiles to the Bush campaign and declared that she was a "plant." The Bush campaign said she was a "volunteer supporter" but that she challenged Trump on her own accord.
The Bush campaign also poked at Trump for being "very sensitive about being challenged by women," an apparent reference to Trump's furious attacks against Fox News host Megyn Kelly and presidential rival Carly Fiorina.
"Like many in New Hampshire, Lauren is a student at St. Anselm's who is passionate about and active in politics and attended this event on her own accord," Bush spokeswoman Allie Brandenburger said, according to CNN. "While this question was not sanctioned by the campaign, we can't help but notice Mr. Trump does seem to be very sensitive about being challenged by women."