--- title: Jeb Bush: Donald Trump Supporters Not 'A Bunch of Idiots' description: Jeb Bush repeated criticisms of Donald Trump on Saturday and also corrected people who've dismissed Trump supporters as "a bunch of idiots" canonical: https://time.com/4344115/jeb-bush-donald-trump-supporters/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-21T18:38:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-06T09:17:49.769Z article:section: Politics og:title: Jeb Bush: Donald Trump Supporters Not 'A Bunch of Idiots' og:description: "They're legitimately scared. They're fearful." og:url: https://time.com/4344115/jeb-bush-donald-trump-supporters/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b95442163ab0a0b/69889444cd1bba9209700c92/jeb-bush-amsterdam.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5197 og:image:height: 2923 og:image:alt: Jeb Bush Campaigns With Mother Barbara Bush One Day Before SC Primary og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Jeb Bush: Donald Trump Supporters Not 'A Bunch of Idiots' twitter:description: "They're legitimately scared. They're fearful." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b95442163ab0a0b/69889444cd1bba9209700c92/jeb-bush-amsterdam.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Jeb Bush Says Donald Trump Supporters Not 'A Bunch of Idiots' > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=7011dc5e-fd57-4d7e-a77e-d2d3e6640fa3&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Jeb Bush Comments on Trump Supporters [Watch (HLS stream): Jeb Bush Comments on Trump Supporters](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/QqIdbjsv.m3u8) (0:18)  _Published 2016-05-21. During a speech in Amsterdam on Saturday, Jeb Bush repeated familiar criticisms of Donald Trump while also correcting people who have dismissed Trump supporters as “a bunch of idiots.”_  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly May 21, 2016 6:38 PM UTC  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly May 21, 2016 6:38 PM UTC During a [speech in Amsterdam on Saturday](http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/21/politics/jeb-bush-donald-trump-amsterdam/index.html), Jeb Bush repeated familiar criticisms of Donald Trump while also correcting people who have dismissed Trump supporters as “a bunch of idiots.” “What I fear is that people, kind of looking down their nose, will say the people that are supporting Donald Trump are a bunch of idiots. They’re not. They’re legitimately scared. They’re fearful. They’re not as optimistic for legitimate reasons and there should be respect for that,” Bush said during a speech and panel discussion about American politics, [CNN reported](http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/21/politics/jeb-bush-donald-trump-amsterdam/index.html). “And on the other side, a similar respect needs to be shown.” As he often did during his presidential campaign, Bush criticized the presumptive Republican nominee for “preying on people’s angst rather than offering tangible solutions.” Bush has been outspoken about his [disapproval of Trump](http://time.com/4268888/jeb-bush-endorses-ted-cruz/). **Read more:** [Jeb Bush Criticizes Donald Trump’s ‘Insensitive’ Taco Bowl Tweet](http://time.com/4338730/jeb-bush-donald-trump-cinco-de-mayo-tweet/) Bush also said Trump has been “phenomenally good” at gaining media coverage. “He can literally wake up — I have this vision of him in, you know, silk pajamas, with his little slippers on with a ‘T’ on his emblem. He wakes up and he sends out a tweet ripping, you know, someone a new one,” Bush said, according to CNN. “He has been a master at how you get into the media, the new media, the diverse media that exists today in a way that had never been done before.” ## Transcript What I fear is that people, looking down their nose, will say the people that are supporting Donald Trump are a bunch of idiots. They're not. They're legitimately scared, they're fearful, they're not as optimistic, for legitimate reasons. And there should be respect for that. 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