Jeb Bush rules out third-party bid if he loses GOP nomination
Jeb Bush won't run as a third-party candidate in 2016, even if Donald Trump wins the Republican nomination.
When asked at a New Hampshire campaign stop if Bush would consider an independent bid if the billionaire real estate developer -- who Bush has insisted is a "jerk" -- was named the GOP nominee, the former Florida governor answered in the negative.
"No. I'm not going to run as a third-party candidate, no matter who wins the nomination," Bush said late Wednesday. "I've been supporting Republicans since Richard Nixon."
Despite his promise to back Trump if the business mogul does end up on the GOP's general election ticket, Bush did not hesitate to continue his criticisms of the current Republican front-runner.
"Do you want a president that disparages women, Muslims of all kinds, people with disabilities, Hispanics? I mean we're getting down to about 90 percent of all people here," he said at the town hall in Meredith, New Hampshire. "At what point do we say enough of this?"
Asked about his constant references to Trump as a "jerk," Bush pointed to Trump's mocking of a disabled New York Times reporter as proof.
"When anybody disparages people with disabilities, it sets me off," he said. "That's why I called him a jerk."
The GOP contender, who trails far behind Trump in New Hampshire polls just a month before the state's first-in-the-nation primaries, had some positive comments to make of his brash rival, however.
"I like the fact that he is not embarrassed about his success," Bush said of Trump. "I think we ought to be celebrating success in life."
CBS News' Jacqueline Alemany contributed to this report.