Tea party leader jilts Trump for Bush: ‘Enough is enough’



By S.A. Miller - The Washington Times - Tuesday, February 16, 2016

The founder of the Tea Party of America has abandoned Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump and thrown his support behind Jeb Bush in an effort to boost the establishment candidate’s struggling bid for the nomination.

Ken Crow, who founded one of the first national tea party organizations in opposition to the policies of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, was an outspoken supporter of Mr. Trump this election cycle until he was repulsed by the billionaire businessman and reality TV star’s volatile personality and crude antics on the stump.

“I was on the Trump train but enough is enough,” Mr. Crow told The Washington Times, announcing his dizzying realignment from the rebellious Mr. Trump to the ultimate establishment figure of Mr. Bush, a former Florida governor.

“When is Trump going to act like a president? The answer is he’s not,” he said.

Mr. Crow has a history of breaking with fellow tea party leaders and quit Tea Party of America amid infighting. Nevertheless, his switch of allegiance suggested strains within the grass-roots coalition propelling Mr. Trump’s unconventional but so far wildly successful run.

Mr. Crow, who is based in Iowa, has contacted Bush campaign officials about working to recruit more tea party voters nationwide to support Mr. Bush.

Mr. Bush trails in the polls in South Carolina. But he has re-energized his campaign, partly by appearing with his brother, former President George W. Bush, hoping to beat expectations and emerge from the state’s Feb. 20 primary as the dominant establishment alternative to Mr. Trumpand rival conservative heavyweight Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.

Mr. Crow said that he had nagging doubts about Mr. Trump’s temperament and electability for some time, but he reached the breaking point last week when Mr. Trump called rival Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas a “pussy” during a campaign event.

Mr. Trump repeated the slur that was blurted out by a female audience member at a rally in New Hampshire. He told the crowd it was “terrible” and warned the woman to not say it again, but he repeated it to make sure the crowd knew what she said.

“Anyone who is unable to control his language in front of little old ladies and children is a problem for me,” he said.

Reversing longtime opposition to the Republican Party establishment, Mr. Crow said that Mr. Bush is the most electable and most presidential candidate remaining in the narrowing field. He also argued that Mr. Bush, who is routinely described as one of the more moderate Republicans in the race, is more conservative than he’s given credit for.

“He wants everything we want on the right,” said Mr. Crow. “He is a quiet leader and he is very prudent in his decision and that’s what, quite frankly, I like about the guy.”

He called Mr. Bush tempered, intelligent and wise.

“He’s actually extremely intelligent and he’s gracious and he’s polite,” Mr. Crow said. “He’s got all the characteristics that we Americans want to see in a president. We don’t need a flamethrower in the Oval Office.”

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