As Donald Trump softens his harsh rhetoric on immigration, Jeb Bush has issued his own critique: The GOP nominee is "morphing" and Bush doesn't like it.
"All the things that Donald Trump railed against, he seems to be morphing into _ it's kind of disturbing," Bush, who was trounced by Trump in the Republican primaries this year, said Thursday on WABC Radio.
Trump repeatedly castigated the former governor of Florida last spring for his call for a path to legal status for the estimated 11 million people in the country illegally.
In rallies and debates, Trump relentlessly called Bush "weak" and slammed his immigration plan as amnesty. He vowed instead to round up and deport everyone in the country illegally.
But that was then. Now, trailing Hillary Clinton in the polls with a little more than two months until Election Day, Trump has shifted his position.
In a Fox News interview Wednesday, Trump said he would show flexibility on who he would deport, suggesting exemptions for those who have no criminal records.
"They'll pay back taxes. They have to pay taxes. There's no amnesty, as such. There's no amnesty, but we work with them," he said.
That sounded suspiciously like Clinton's plan. It also mirrors President Barack Obama's current deportation priorities, which focus chiefly on those who have committed crimes.
And then there is Bush.
In a tweet on Thursday, former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said he was pleased that Trump had embraced Bush's immigration plans.
Yet Bush, who has not endorsed Trump and did not attend last month's Republican National Convention, does not find the Republican nominee's pivot humorous.
He said Trump's views "change based on the feedback he gets from a crowd or ... what he thinks he has to do."
"Life is too complex. For me I couldn't do that. I have to believe what I believe, and if it's popular, great, if it's not, I try to get better at presenting my views," Bush said. "But shifting my views because, because it's political to do it? That's what politicians do in this country, that's what Trump is trying to do right now. I find it abhorrent."
