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Jeb Bush calls Donald Trump ‘really weak’

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and businessman Donald Trump were feuding with each other through much of Saturday night’s Republican presidential primary debate in Greenville, S.C.

Throughout the campaign, Trump has repeatedly insulted Bush, saying he lacks force and energy. During the debate Bush was asked to defend a comment he made in 2014, when he said some illegal immigrants attempt to enter the country as an “act of love” for their families. Bush argued that he supports “controlling the border.” Trump countered by saying Bush “is so weak on illegal immigration, it’s laughable.” Bush then turned the tables and described Trump as “really weak,” for resorting to insulting remarks throughout the campaign.

“You want to talk about weakness? It’s weak to disparage women. It’s weak to disparage Hispanics. It’s weak to denigrate the disabled, and it’s really weak to call John McCain a loser because he was a POW. That is outrageous. He’s an American hero,” Bush said.

Trump has been criticized for remarks he has made on the campaign trail about Mexicans and women. He was also accused of making gestures to mock a disabled New York Times reporter. In July, Trump said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who spent time as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, was “not a war hero.”

“I like people who weren’t captured,” Trump said.

Trump interrupted while Bush was talking, speaking over him to deny that he had insulted many of the groups Bush named. Trump then brought up a little-known interview Bush gave earlier this month, in which Bush, who has struggled to gain traction despite spending large sums of money, quipped that he might be able to get more media attention if he was to “drop his pants” and “moon the whole crowd.”

“He said about language — my language… Two days ago, he said he would take his pants off and moon everybody,” Trump said of Bush. “That’s fine. Nobody reports that. He gets up and says that and then he tells me, ‘Oh, my language was a little bit rough.’ My language — give me a break!“

(Cover tile photo: John Bazemore/AP)