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Trump, Jeb! kerfuffle their way through the CNN Republican debate

Chris Graham

jeb bushFormer Florida Gov. Jeb Bush needed to show some signs of life heading into the holidays. It’s probably too little, too late, but there is a pulse in there somewhere.

Early in the CNN Republican debate in Las Vegas Tuesday night, Bush was asked to defend his statement on the campaign trail that Donald Trump is “unhinged.”

And oh, he did.

“Donald, you know, is great at the one-liners. But he’s a chaos candidate. And he’d be a chaos president. He would not be the commander in chief we need to keep our country safe,” Bush said.

The Donald, being The Donald, responded, in kind.

“Jeb doesn’t really believe I’m unhinged. He said that very simply because he has failed in this campaign. It’s been a total disaster. Nobody cares,” Trump said, to scattered boos from the audience.

A little later, Bush got the applause line of the night.

“Donald, you’re not going to be able to insult your way to the presidency,” Bush said, a line that he repeated again.

Trump, not surprisingly, had no trouble retorting.

“I’m at 42, and you’re at 3,” he said, the presidential debate version of “Scoreboard!”

– Story by Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham, the king of "fringe media," a zero-time Virginia Sportswriter of the Year, and a member of zero Halls of Fame, is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].