On Wednesday's New Day, Jamie Gangel broke CNN's routine of hounding Republican/conservative guests with a mostly non-confrontational interview of Jeb Bush. Gangel only mildly pressed the GOP presidential candidate on the issue of his recent move to target competitor Marco Rubio: "You went after him [Rubio] for missing votes. But he hit back, and some people think he got the better of the moment. Was it a mistake to attack him on that?" She later labeled Bush "a decent man...a hard-working man...[and] a fixer as governor with a great reputation." [video below]
The correspondent led the first part of her pre-recorded segment with the former Florida governor by asserting, "I have some good news for you: you are working with lowered expectations." She asked, "Does that, in some way, free you up?" Bush replied, in part, "I never felt like I was a front-runner, because we hadn't earned it....I've got to get better at debating, I guess — or performing...And I will. I'm a grinder. I'm very competitive."
After prompting him to explain what he meant by "grinder," Gangel followed up by bringing up Donald Trump's Tweet asking all of his competitors to get out of the race. She wondered, "Do you think an old-fashioned guy who wants to be a doer — who wants to be a fixer — is really what people are looking for?" Bush replied by taking a jab at Trump: "He's run for president twice and quit; and I've run for governor in the biggest swing state and won twice. I know how to win. I've done it. I actually know how to govern."
The CNN journalist then launched her questioning about the candidate's recent face-off with Rubio. She also brought the issue of Trump back in by mention the billionaire's attack on the Florida senator:
JAMIE GANGEL: Marco Rubio — he is now rising in the polls — your former protege. In the debate, you went after him for missing votes. But he hit back, and some people think he got the better of the moment. Was it a mistake to attack him on that?
JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Here's — here's my point: people that are serving need to show up and work — period; over and out.
GANGEL: So, it wasn't a mistake?
BUSH: I just think people need to show up and work.
GANGEL: I understand, but this is a campaign. You've got to beat these other guys. So do you keep attacking? Is—
BUSH: I'm not attacking to say someone should show up and work. Do you get paid when you don't show up?
GANGEL: No.
BUSH: I mean, come on! Does — does anybody in this room get paid when they decide —oh well; I'm going to go do something else? You know, Rand Paul is — got a pretty good attendance record. He's running for president as well. You can make an accommodation. The people of the State of Florida expect people to show up and work when they elect them. It's not a criticism. It's just a simple fact.
GANGEL: But you're going to keep saying it?
BUSH: That people ought to show up and work?
GANGEL: That Marco Rubio—
BUSH: Yeah; yeah. It's not a criticism.
GANGEL: Okay. Donald Trump — we have to get back to him one more time. He just called Marco Rubio a 'lightweight,' and he said Vladimir Putin would eat him for lunch. You think that's fair?
BUSH: No, it's not fair. He's a — look, Marco's a capable guy. He's a talented politician.
Here's what I think: I think I'm the best qualified to be president.
GANGEL: But is Marco Rubio ready?
BUSH: I'm the best qualified guy to be president.
GANGEL: You're not going to answer the question.
BUSH: If you're comparing me to Donald Trump, I'm — I'm better qualified to be president.
GANGEL: Is Marco Rubio—
BUSH: I'm better qualified than anybody else running for president. And it's not — I'm not pushing people down when I say that. And if it makes you feel better, everybody on the Republican stage is better than Hillary Clinton. That's a low bar, though.
GANGEL: You have said you have grave concerns about Donald Trump. You watched firsthand your brother, your father be commander-in-chief—
BUSH: Yeah—
GANGEL: Are you comfortable with Donald Trump as commander-in-chief?
BUSH: I'm not comfortable with some of the things he says — particularly, about Syria, where he, one week, says that let ISIS take out Assad; and then, the Russians come in and he praises Putin, and says, let Russia take care of ISIS. It's — it's a reactive kind of mode — that, somehow, I'm the big guy in the room; I'll just figure it out as I go along. Foreign policy needs to be undergird with a set of principles. And — and so, I think he's going to have to learn, if he's serious about this — you know, to be able to get your foreign policy advice from 'the shows' is probably not the best way to be ready to be president.
Gangel gave her "decent man" compliment of Bush after the end of the first part of the interview, as the New Day anchors questioned her about the experience:
ALISYN CAMEROTA: Yeah. Last week, he was asked, are you having any fun? And his response was, yeah, I'm having fun! I mean, it was — he was so....like, testy about it. In person, do you get the impression that he's enjoying some of this or not?
GANGEL: It's very interesting you said that. I think there is a complete disconnect between what he's like in person, and what he's like on TV—
MICHAELA PEREIRA: Interesting!
GANGEL: His energy level — he seemed relaxed. He was up. He does seem happy in person. He's working hard, because he has to break through. But there is something you're not seeing that's not coming through.
CHRIS CUOMO: Sometimes, it's just a bad match-up — you know, when you look at opponents on paper. Sometimes, you know, you look at his resume. You look at who he is. I get why there is so much money behind him. I don't believe it was just a Bush legacy issue. I believe he was very attractive. But in the current environment, with what is resonating with voters, is it just a bad match-up for him and his skill set?
GANGEL: It may be. This is a decent man. This is a hard-working man. He was a fixer as governor with a great reputation. But it's been a long time since he was governor; and someone said to me, Jeb is running at a time when there was a 24-hour news cycle; now, there's a 24-second news cycle. And then, he has Donald Trump on top of it....It's a very different climate.
PEREIRA: And that shows up when you even see how he did in the debate. The fact that what you talk about his public appearance when he's on the ground with folks, where he relates well, or to where he's on the front stage — you can see that it's a struggle, even for him.
GANGEL: I thought it was fascinating when he said he didn't hit Rubio back, because the moderator said that it was time to move on and interrupted him. That's sort of — he's like his father. He's polite. He thought it was time to stop. But in the end, it didn't look good.
The correspondent spent the second part of her interview on Governor Bush's new book and how his family is reacting to his campaign so far:
GANGEL: ...There are e-mails in there. In one e-mail, you talk about a word the Bush family hates: the 'D' word — 'dynasties' — and you talk about your dad skydiving — which you say you would not do, for the record. And you talk about how much you love him. How are your parents handling this campaign?
BUSH: Well, I'm making a contribution for my dad. I think he's — he's stopped watching reruns of 'C.S.I.' He's back watching the cable — you know, news shows, so that he can get — get his — he gets — he gets fired up. He wants his son — he loves his son. I love him more than he loves me, because he's the greatest man alive. But I think I'm — I'm taking credit for getting him back in the game a little bit. And mom, who you may remember was talking about being neutral — was kind of neutral on the subject of my candidacy, is — is fully on board. So they're all in for Jeb and—
GANGEL: Is your dad still throwing things at the TV?
BUSH: (laughs) Yeah, I think he is. He's — you know him. I mean, he's just — he's the most loving guy in the world, but he — he's — this isn't about policy for him. This is about his boy that he loves.
GANGEL: When they see you struggling, is that hard, or do they keep that away from you?
BUSH: I don't know. I feel — I would never want to let them down, for sure. They don't — I don't get a sense that they're disappointed in me in any way. They know — if anybody knows about the long haul nature of primary campaigns and campaigns in general, it's George and Barbara Bush. So, they've got — they've got the right perspective on this — and so does my brother. I mean, he, of all people, knows about this, because he's — by the way, the last Republican and the second-to-last Republican to win elections. So he — he knows how it — how it's done.
GANGEL: So let me ask you about your brother — because I'm guessing that somewhere along the line, he said to you, don't worry about me; go out there; say whatever you need to say; do whatever you need to do. And he does understand this better than anyone else.
BUSH: Yeah. He does.
GANGEL: You were just with him in Houston. Does he give you any advice?
BUSH: Yeah. First of all, I've struggled with this, because I don't want to — I don't want to say anything bad about my brother. He's my brother. And, you know, the blood sport is, oh, where do you differ; how you're this; blah, blah, blah — you know? So, I stumbled in the beginning, because I had a hard time saying — I spent — what — six years being governor of the state where I never was critical of my brother, even when I was — you know, striving to get the best deal I could get for — for my state. It was a discipline I was quite proud of. I haven't just cast it aside. So, my bad — not his, because, you're right. He — he said, do what you need to do. His advice is be patient; stick with it.
At the end of the day, they're going to — people are going to start figuring out who's going to be president — who's going to sit behind the big desk, to use his terminology. And it's encouraging to hear him say that, because he knows. He's been through ups and downs. You know, that's just the way it is.
GANGEL: In the Bush family, there is a great sense of responsibility about public service....So when you took this on, that goes with the last name. Do you worry about letting your parents down?
BUSH: I — I have thousands and thousands of people that I want to do well. I want to win though, too. I mean, this is not about disappointing people. This is about fixing some really complex things that I know I can do. I just know it in my heart that I can draw people together to unify the country around a few really big things. And if we did it, income would grow for the middle class; people would be lifted out of poverty; and we'd be safe and secure. And that's what I focus on. So, the hardest critic of Jeb Bush is Jeb Bush.
