Trump knocks Bush for turning to ‘mommy’

Former first lady Barbara Bush is urging voters in both a new video and in a hand-written letter to vote for her second-eldest son, making her first public appearance on behalf of his campaign. While Barbara Bush has so far lent her name to fundraising letters and appeared at donor retreats, as well as Jeb Bush's announcement speech last summer, she has yet to have a more public presence on the campaign. In the video obtained by CNN, she praises her son for being a "good father" with a "big" heart and makes what could be interpreted as a subtle dig at the current GOP frontrunner, Donald Trump.

WASHINGTON — (CNN) Donald Trump is now taunting Jeb Bush for turning to his “mommy” to help save his floundering campaign — but the former Florida governor says his mother, former First Lady Barbara Bush, is ready to rumble.

Friday night, Trump tweeted at Bush, “Just watched Jeb’s ad where he desperately needed mommy to help him. Jeb — mom can’t help you with ISIS, the Chinese or with Putin”

Trump is referring to a new video by the Bush campaign where his mother takes a more visible role in his campaign. In the video, she takes what could be interpreted as a dig at Trump about his policies and how Trump says “how popular they are.”

“When push comes to shove, people are going to realize Jeb has real solutions. Rather than talking about how popular they are, how great they are, he’s doing it because he sees a huge need and it’s not being filled by anybody,” she said in the video. “Of all the people running, he seems to be the one who can solve the problems. I think he’ll be a great president.”

Bush responded to Trump’s tweet later Friday, writing, “I’d be careful Donald” with an embedded photo of the former first lady wearing football gear with eye block painted across her cheeks.

The photo is an actual screengrab from a promotional video Barbara did with Houston Texans’ defensive end J.J. Watts in 2014 about “tackling” literacy problems in Houston.

Trump had not responded to Bush’s tweet as of Saturday morning.

The-CNN-Wire ™ & © 2016 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

(Photo: CNN)

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