Bush-Trump feud intensifies in GOP primary

MIAMI -- Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush escalated his feud with Donald Trump on Tuesday, betting big he can re-energize his stalled campaign by challenging the billionaire businessman head-on.

It's a risky strategy for the former Florida governor, still considered the GOP front-runner by many party officials, but a move his advisers suggest is necessary to reverse Trump's unlikely ascension to the top of the 2016 presidential class.

Bush intensified his criticism of the former reality television star on several fronts, first releasing a Web video featuring clips of Trump himself promoting traditionally liberal positions in old interviews. "You'd be shocked if I said that in many cases I probably identify more as a Democrat," Trump says in the video produced and promoted by the Bush campaign titled "Liberal Things That Trump Says."

In a subsequent Fox News interview, Bush charged "Trump is more a Democrat than a Republican." Speaking to reporters in English and Spanish in Miami later in the day, Bush said: "He attacks me every day. He personalizes everything. If you're not totally in agreement with him, you're an idiot, you're stupid, you have low energy, blah, blah, blah. That's what he does."

The Bush campaign reports Tuesday's political assault was not an isolated incident, but part of a broader strategy to engage Trump more directly. While the two have traded jabs before, the approach marks a shift for Bush, who previously preferred to ignore Trump's bombast altogether.

Donald Trump

"Trump has attacked Jeb's wife, his mother, he's taken him out of context and lied about his record," said Bush spokesman Tim Miller. "It's incumbent upon us to not just set the record straight about Jeb's record, and not just fight back, but also expose Trump as somebody who's completely misrepresenting himself to voters."

Miller promised the campaign would release "more digital products," such as the video, in the coming days, while Bush would continue to be aggressive on the campaign trail.

Bush, the son of one president and brother of another, is not the first Republican presidential contender to go after Trump, yet he has the highest profile of the critics. The struggles of Trump's other critics offer a reminder of the risks of confronting a man whose business is confrontation.

"Fighting with Donald Trump is like wrestling in the WWE," said Republican pollster Frank Luntz, himself the target of insults from Trump. "It doesn't get you anywhere, and you know it's going to hurt."

Trump released a Web video of his own later in the day highlighting Bush's praise for the Clinton family. And on Twitter, Trump noted other presidential contenders have tried to take him on.

He dismissed Bush's video as "yet another weak hit by a candidate with a failing campaign. Will Jeb sink as low in the polls as the others who have gone after me?"

Indeed, former Texas governor Rick Perry, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul have lashed out at Trump at times over the summer. Each man dropped in the polls as Trump grew stronger.

Bush maintains an overwhelming fundraising advantage over much of his Republican competition but he, too, has struggled in recent polls.

Quinnipiac University pollster Peter Brown noted no candidate has suffered more during Trump's rise than Bush.