Doina Chiacu
Jeb Bush has brought out his famous family four days before the crucial US presidential primary in New Hampshire, tapping his mother to scold Republican front-runner Donald Trump over his use of profanity and treatment of women.
In a last ditch attempt to make a mark on a Republican primary campaign he was supposed to own, Bush lashed out at both Trump and US Senator Marco Rubio, the one-time protege who has eclipsed Bush as the party's establishment candidate in the 2016 White House race.
New opinion polls following Monday's Iowa caucuses showed Trump retaining a double-digit lead in New Hampshire's primary next Tuesday with Rubio rapidly rising into second place in the state as Republicans battle for the nomination in November's presidential election.
Bush, the former governor of Florida, leaned on his well-known family for support.
While former President George W. Bush appeared in a new ad praising his brother as having "a good heart and a strong backbone" and being able to unite the country, Jeb Bush sat with his mother for an interview with CBS show This Morning.
The two attacked Trump as misogynistic and vulgar after he used a four-letter word in a recent campaign appearance.
"I don't think a president would have ever shouted profanities in a speech in front of thousands of people with kids in the crowd," Jeb Bush said. "He does it all the time."
His mother lambasted Trump for criticising Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly after she had quizzed him at a Republican debate in August.
Trump made comments widely interpreted as referring to her menstrual cycle.
"I don't know how women can vote for someone who said what he said about Megyn Kelly," Mrs. Bush said. "It's terrible. And we knew what he meant, too."
Much loved by today's Republicans, the former first lady herself raised eyebrows in 1984 when she reportedly made a derogatory reference to Democratic vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman on a major party ticket, saying, "I can't say it, but it rhymes with rich."
Trump has dismissed Jeb Bush as a "low-energy" loser. The son and brother of US presidents who was expected to glide to the Republican nomination, Bush has struggled to seize the offensive and trails in the single digits in many national polls.
Reuters
