It’s been hard for Jeb Bush to catch a break in the 2016 race, and online is no exception.
A website bearing the former Florida governor’s name now directs users to Trump’s official campaign site, DonaldJTrump.com, as The Daily Caller first reported Monday.
A Whois search of JebBush.com shows the domain is currently registered to Fabulous.com PTY LTD., a site that boasts tools for “sales and monetization” of domains. The domain was created on Nov. 19, 1997, and was most recently updated on Oct. 20, 2015. It expires in 2024.
It’s a somewhat surprising oversight for the struggling campaign. Candidates who fail to lock up all derivative domain names early face them falling into the hands of their opponents – like when sex columnist Dan Savage gamed Google to redefine “santorum” during Rick Santorum’s campaign – or find themselves thrust into a costly online marketplace run by enterprising internet users.
A recent CNN/ORC poll found Bush polling at just 3 percent among Republican voters nationally, 33 points behind Republican frontrunner Trump.
