Jeb Bush said Wednesday that Republican presidential front-runner keeps bashing him steadily because "he's scared of me."
"He's insecure," the former Florida governor told
Wolf Blitzer on CNN. "He doesn't believe that he can take me on.
"And while I'm doing worse than him in the polls, the simple fact is why would he spend his time tearing down someone who's so low compared to him?
"This is because we're moving up," Bush added. "I believe that he believes we're the real challenge for his winning the nomination."
The latest
CNN/WMUR poll released Wednesday showed that Bush was tied for third place with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio among New Hampshire Republican voters, at 10 percent each.
Bush's standing had risen 2 points over last month's survey.
The former governor continued his attacks on the front-runner, elaborating on his calling Trump
"a junkyard dog" in a Newsmax TV interview on Tuesday after Blitzer played a one-minute clip of the developer charging that Bush was "low-energy."
"Is that a junkyard dog or what?" he asked. "This is politics. It's not bean bag. The simple fact is that people are hurting in this country.
"The main reason why I believe he's the wrong candidate isn't that he attacks me, it's that he attacks women, Hispanics, the disabled.
"Across the board, he finds ways to tear people down to make himself look like the strong man," Bush said. "That's a sign of weakness. That's not a sign of strength."
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