Bush On Trump’s 9/11 Claims: He Doesn’t Know What He’s Talking About

Republican presidential hopeful, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, speaks during a rally Monday, Nov. 2, 2015, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) on Wednesday morning threw cold water on Donald Trump’s claims that he saw Muslim Americans in New Jersey cheering after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

“I don’t believe it happened. I know many Muslims that were just as angry and saddened by the attack on our country. I don’t believe it,” Bush said on CNN when asked about Trump’s comments.

“Look, Donald Trump says these things to prey on people’s fears, their anger, their frustration with Washington. He’s quite effective at it, but he doesn’t know what he’s talking about and he’s not a serious leader,” the former governor continued. “We’re living in difficult times, we need serious leadership to be able to solve the problems that we have domestically and lead America around the world so that we can create peace and security for ourselves.”

Trump recently resurfaced debunked rumors that Muslim Americans celebrated as the World Trade Center towers fell on 9/11, even though the claim has been thoroughly refuted.

When asked about Trump’s comments this week, Ben Carson initially said that he “saw the film” of New Jersey residents cheering on Sept. 11, 2001. But he later walked back his statement, noting that he meant to refer to celebrations in the Middle East.

Latest Livewire

Notable Replies

  1. I can’t even imagine how many times Jeb! has to slam his head into a desk or a wall in an effort to accept that Trump is whipping him silly.

  2. Avatar for kblow kblow says:

    Ha! Of course he waits two days after it’s been debunked before saying anything.

  3. Says the man with the special Christian X-Ray glasses.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

46 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for lestatdelc Avatar for alliebean Avatar for dr_coyote Avatar for pluckyinky Avatar for richardinjax Avatar for littlegirlblue Avatar for mmurdoch Avatar for old_curmudgeon Avatar for mattinpa Avatar for wordtoyamamma Avatar for fargo116 Avatar for trnc Avatar for steviedee111 Avatar for squirreltown Avatar for mantan Avatar for skippyflipjack Avatar for daveyjones64 Avatar for addicted4444 Avatar for robcat2075 Avatar for dddinah Avatar for jinmichigan Avatar for kblow Avatar for erratum

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: