Billionaire Bush donor begins personal anti-Trump campaign
Republican presidential candidate, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush shakes hands after speaking at a campaign stop with young professionals, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015, in Manchester, N.H. AP
TALLAHASSEE, Florida — A billionaire who is backing Jeb Bush for the Republican presidential nomination has launched a personal campaign against fellow billionaire Donald Trump, calling him an insecure, narcissistic bully who needs to be stopped.
With the 2016 primary season swiftly approaching, Trump continues to lead most Republican polls to the display of many of party leaders who fear his incendiary remarks are harming their hopes of recapturing the White House in 2016. The Democrats have increasingly coalesced behind the candidacy of Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has swiftly criticized comments by Trump and other Republican candidates on Muslims.
Mike Fernandez, a Cuban-born major Republican donor from Miami who built his fortune in the health care industry, has bought full-page newspaper ads blasting Trump and planned to run a pro-Latino television ad during Tuesday’s Republican debate coverage designed to counter Trump’s anti-immigration message. He is also launching a website this week to be called “Stop The Bullyionaire.”
“My issue with Trump in attacking the Latinos is that it’s the Mexican-Americans today, is it the Puerto Ricans tomorrow, and is it the Venezuelans the day after that and then the Cubans are right behind it. He’s a dangerous individual,” said Fernandez, whose $3 million contribution to a group supporting Bush through the first six months of the year makes him the largest individual donor.
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Fernandez began the campaign before Trump’s statement this week that Muslims should be banned from entering the country, but he mentioned the remarks as another example of why he’s hoping to knock Trump down as a front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination.
Fernandez joins others in targeting Trump. A group backing Ohio Gov. John Kasich, another presidential candidate, and the conservative group Club for Growth are producing anti-Trump videos and Republican strategist Liz Mair is raising money for an anti-Trump campaign. He criticized the Republican National Committee for not doing more to denounce Trump, even at the risk he’ll run an independent campaign.
“I have said to them, ‘The longer you drag this out, the more painful it’s going to be,'” Fernandez said. “So go independent. Let him do it now. Minimize the damage and at least you know who you’re dealing with versus waiting till the last minute and you have no chance to devise a strategy.”
A Trump campaign spokeswoman didn’t return a phone call or email seeking comment.
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Fernandez likened the attraction to Trump to the rise of dictators like Cuba’s Fidel Castro and Germany’s Adolf Hitler in a nation where people are growing increasingly frustrated with government.
“It can happen here, too,” Fernandez said. “I pray that that it’s not the case. This is a very strong signal that we are on the edge and we need to bring it back.”
Despite donating millions of dollars to Republican candidates and the Florida and national Republican, he said he would vote for Democrat Hillary Clinton over Trump.
“If my choice is between supporting somebody that lies and somebody who’s insane, I’m going to vote for the liar,” he said.
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