Jeb Bush: ‘Presidential leadership would be helpful’

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) on Sunday chided Republicans for failing to unite behind a common agenda and called for more leadership from President Trump.

“We haven’t come up with a compelling, unifying agenda that can replace that,” Bush told radio host John Catsimatidis for an interview on AM 970 in New York.

“And that’s where you see the struggles in Washington right now. The healthcare debacle is a good example of that,” he continued, referring to last month’s failed GOP healthcare push.

“Presidential leadership would be helpful here. There’s a lot that could be done that I think has broad-based support,” he added. “If he could focus on these positive things, our brand then could be solidified, I think.”

{mosads}Bush was an early contender for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, fighting bitterly with Trump on the campaign trail before withdrawing from the race after the South Carolina primaries last February.

Since then, Bush has at times been critical of Trump and never endorsed him after the real estate mogul officially secured the Republican nomination last summer.

But the former Florida governor on Sunday offered praise for Trump’s early actions on cutting federal regulations, as well as his call to overhaul the country’s infrastructure.

Still, he criticized Republicans for appearing to remain as an opposition party, even after securing the White House and a majority in Congress.

“Being against what the other guys are for is not a sustainable political position,” he said. “It can work in the short term, as we’ve seen, but in the long term, people want to see results.”