Republican presidential candidate and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Wednesday that the New Hampshire primary put a “pause” on the GOP race and left rival Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) cancelling his coronation, The Washington Post reported.
Bush told reporters gathered in South Carolina that New Hampshire voters, “pushed the pause button. The coronation after a third-place finish — looks like they canceled it. So, everybody’s going to have to make their case,” according to the Post.
Bush referenced Rubio’s third-place finish in the Iowa caucus that had Rubio assuring his supporters that he “will be our nominee.” But the tone of his speech was far different on Tuesday after preliminary primary results showed that he was likely to place fifth in New Hampshire.
In his speech Tuesday, Rubio conceded that he did not perform well in the last GOP debate, but vowed to improve next time and return to New Hampshire to “win the general election.”
