Campaign Nemesis Jeb Bush Praises Trump
Despite being mocked to the sidelines during the 2016 Republican presidential primary, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush praised President Donald Trump this week for his economic achievements.
On Friday, the Commerce Department announced that the gross domestic product grew at a 4.1 percent rate for the second quarter of 2018.
That prompted Bush, once derided by Trump as “low energy,” to offer some rare praise of the president.
“Today’s news confirms that 4% growth isn’t just aspirational, it’s achievable through policies that unleash the power of the market. Credit to @POTUS’s economic policies. To sustain this growth, we must pursue a free trade agenda and move to a merit-based immigration system,” Bush tweeted.
The praise came among other tweets from Bush that criticized Trump over his summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Bush also refused to support Trump after winning the nomination, has criticized Trump’s policies on immigration, and said the president was not “a real Republican,” CBS reported.
Bush wasn’t the only one who praised the economy’s performance under Trump.
“Everybody I talk to is literally having banner years the past few years,” said Bob Grote, CEO of the food processing equipment manufacturer Grote Company in Columbus, Ohio, according to The New York Times. “I don’t see any end in sight right now.”
Grote said consumer confidence and tax cuts are helping his business grow.
“We’ve spent more on capital equipment this year than we probably have in the last five combined,” Grote said. “We’re going to see the benefits of it a lot sooner.”
On Friday, Trump promised the economy would grow even more.
“We’re on track to hit the highest annual average growth rate in over 13 years. And I will say this right now, and I’ll say it strongly: As the trade deals come in one by one, we’re going to go a lot higher than these numbers. And these are great numbers,” Trump said.
The president contrasted the economy with the 1.8 percent GDP growth of past administrations.
“If economic growth continues at this pace, the United States economy will double in size more than 10 years faster than it would have under either President Bush or President Obama,” he said.
“But we’ve turned it all around. Once again, we are the economic envy of the entire world. When I meet the leaders of countries, the first thing they say invariably is, ‘Mr. President, so nice to meet you. Congratulations on your economy. You’re leading the entire world.’ They say it almost each and every time,” Trump continued.
“America is being respected again, and America is winning again, because we are finally putting America first.”
I am thrilled to announce that in the second quarter of this year, the U.S. Economy grew at the amazing rate of 4.1%! pic.twitter.com/xeAPwAAOXN
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 27, 2018
“Perhaps one of the biggest wins in the report, and it is indeed a big one, is that the trade deficit — very dear to my heart, because we’ve been ripped off by the world — has dropped by more than $50 billion,” he said.
“By increasing growth to 3 percent over the next 10 years, that would mean 12 million new American jobs and $10 trillion of new American wealth, at least.”
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