Jeb Bush Appeals to Backers, as One Top Donor Runs Own Anti-Trump Ad
As Jeb Bush appeals to his donors, one top backer is taking matters into his own
— -- Republican candidate Jeb Bush has reached his campaign’s nadir, at least in respect to polling.
A CNN/ORC national poll found that he had the support of only 3 percent of Republicans. For the establishment candidate once assumed to be the presumptive frontrunner, this is not good, to say the least.
This weekend, Bush hosted a donor confab in Miami, a smaller version of a larger gathering in Houston earlier this fall. On Friday, he attended a fundraising dinner at the home of Ed Easton, a Miami real-estate tycoon. Saturday morning, he spoke to more than 100 backers at the Biltmore, attempting to assuage their fears and prevent any from jumping ship. Later this afternoon, he and a few guests gathered at the studio of Romero Britto as the artist unveiled an "#allinforJeb" painting.
As was the case in Houston, donors were treated to presentations from top campaign staffers, including campaign manager Danny Diaz and chief adviser Sally Bradshaw. The campaign slammed the CNN/ORC poll for not being representative of likely voters, touted their ground game and early state organization and presented their own internal polling and a recent Reuters poll that showed Bush polling closer to 10 percent.
The campaign also unveiled six new advertisements all to air in early states in December and January; none went after other candidates, but continued to showcase Jeb's strengths, his national security plan and detailed why he's the best to take on ISIS.
"It was all quite compelling," Easton said, praising the campaign's report. He says, like so many other longtime Bush supporters, he believes that polling means nothing now and he's certain the tide will change come February.
"Lots of campaigns don't have the wherewithal to do what we can do ... we do have money to sustain it," he said.
But one of Bush's top donors doesn't want to wait that long. Frustrated by a lack of movement in the polls, and especially the rise of Donald Trump, billionaire backer Mike Fernandez has taken matters into his own hands and is running his own anti-Trump ad, calling the GOP candidate a "narcissistic BULLYionaire."
"Anyone who doesn't stand up to this fake is a fake themselves," Fernandez told ABC News. He was not present at this weekend's events.
He said that, as a Cuban immigrant, he could no longer sit idly by and watch as Trump engaged in "demagoguery." The ad, first reported by Politico, features a juxtaposition between Trump and Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln says that "all men are created equal" as Trump says, "Part of the beauty of me is that I’m very rich."
The ad also includes comparisons between Trump and fascist leaders Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini.
"They all were leaders that rose via election at a time where promises had been made to the populace and never been kept," Fernandez said. "Those people that are Trump's most ardent supporters are people that are afraid, that feel the American dream has left them behind."
He said he wrote a letter to some of his friends, many of whom are wealthy business people, urging them to follow his lead and run their own ads. He noted that Trump has been the beneficiary of a lot of free press and said it was time for those who stand against Trump to stand up.
"Is it not worth it to spend one quarter, one 10th, 1 percent, on this goal?" he says he implored his friends.
He would not disclose the cost of the ad, but said that it wasn't even a fraction of his net worth. He added that, even if he were to spend $10 million, it would be worth it. The ads will run in newspapers in Miami; Des Moines, Iowa; and Las Vegas.
He, like other donors ABC News spoke with, is worried.
"I am like the Israelites following Moses," he joked. "It took a while for Moses to gather the troops."
Another donor, Houston-based Fred Zeidman, said he doesn't understand why Bush hasn't gotten more support.
"I don’t know why he’s not resonating," Zeidman said. "He clearly represents what's best for this country."
Fernandez says that changes are in order, alleging that Bush’s campaign is filled with longtime-loyalists, calling some staffers "not objective and self-serving."
But he’s a loyalist and has no plans of switching candidates as some other have, even though he admits that his candidate’s chances appear increasingly more dismal.
"I do not need to be with a winner," he said. "If Jeb steps down tomorrow -- which he will not -- I will not switch to the next guy. I will go down with Jeb or I will win with Jeb."