A super-PAC backing former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s GOP presidential bid is out with a new ad slamming his top rivals over who would best handle terrorism.
{mosads}Right to Rise USA’s 30-second ad brands businessman Donald Trump as “impulsive and reckless,” knocks Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) for voting “to dramatically weaken counter-terrorism surveillance” and hits Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), saying he “skipped crucial national security hearings and votes just to campaign.”
The aggressive ad immediately cuts to a photo of Bush, saying that 27 generals and admirals support him. The spot is slated to air in the early-voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, according to reports.
Right to Rise raised more than $100 million this year, the most of any group backing a candidate in the crowded GOP field. Bush has been lagging in the single digits in polls as Trump has remained atop the GOP pack, while Cruz and Rubio have ticked upward.
The ad was released hours after Trump called for a “total and complete shutdown” of Muslims entering the U.S., a comment that saw bipartisan backlash. Bush called Trump’s proposal “unhinged” in a tweet, while other GOP rivals also blasted the idea.
Candidates have shifted to focus on terrorism following the Paris attacks last month, as well as a mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., last week that federal agents are investigating as an act of terrorism.