Mary Matalin on Jeb's PAC Attack on Rubio: 'It's Going to Backfire'

Plans by a pro-Jeb Bush super PAC to spend $20 million attacking Republican presidential rival Marco Rubio are "going to backfire," GOP political strategist Mary Matalin told Newsmax TV on Tuesday.

"This isn't Jeb. It's not anything like the Bushes," Matalin told "The Steve Malzberg Show" in an interview. "It's going to backfire."

Watch Newsmax TV on DirecTV Ch. 349, Dish Ch. 223 and Verizon FiOS Ch. 115. Get Newsmax TV on your cable system — Click Here Now

"My guess is some donors to the super PAC probably insisted on it, but I'm confident it wasn't Jeb's idea," she said.

The Right to Rise super PAC's chief strategist has boasted that the group was willing to spend as much as $20 million to show that Rubio is unelectable and prop up Bush's candidacy, The New York Times reported.

The group has raised as much as $100 million supporting Bush, the former Florida governor. Rubio is a first-term senator from the Sunshine State.

"I don't think attacking other Republicans, particularly one that you know, you've supported in the past, is a good thing for anybody in this field to do," Matalin told Malzberg. "It sounds like the super PAC — and the donors are pushing the super PAC."

Related Stories:

• New Rubio Ad Slams Bush for Making 'Phony Attacks'
• Hillary Clinton PAC Slams Marco Rubio With Attack Ads