--- description: Bush acknowledged some of the failures of his presidential campaign, but did not endorse another candidate title: Jeb Bush to Donors: 'I'm Sorry' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5ea8125924bd05b6/69887e703c16397bea45c1ce/jeb-bush2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2016 Election](/tag/2016-election/) ## 2016 Election Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Jeb Bush to Donors: 'I'm Sorry' by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 24, 2016 10:43 PM CUT  Jeb Bush during a town-hall event in Columbia, S.C., on Feb. 18, 2016 Jeb Bush during a town-hall event in Columbia, S.C., on Feb. 18, 2016Daniel Acker—Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 24, 2016 10:43 PM CUT Jeb Bush [apologized to top donors Wednesday](http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/270646-bush-apologizes-to-donors "undefined"), acknowledging the failures of his [now suspended presidential campaign](http://time.com/4231664/jeb-bush-drops-out-president/ "undefined"). The former Florida governor joined members of his national finance team in a conference call, according to the _Hill_. “I’m sorry that it didn’t turn out the way I intended when I launched the campaign,” Bush said. At one time, Bush’s war chest of campaign donations was over $100 million. He admitted that running as a “reform-minded conservative” wasn’t enough to secure the Republican nomination in 2016\. Much of Bush’s campaign was overshadowed by the rise of billionaire Donald Trump, [who has energized the GOP base with his firebrand rhetoric](http://time.com/4197761/apprentice-voters/ "undefined"). “The reality is we’ve had a year of disruption, a year of outsiders making a compelling case to people who are deeply disaffected and angry,” Bush said. “I just didn’t get the breakthrough I needed in early states and felt it was important to not move on without a clear path to winning.” Bush talked highly of his campaign experience, but still took an opportunity to knock at the press. He said he was happy to be off of the trail and that he would enjoy spending time with his wife Columba back home in Miami, the _Hill_ reports. “I was amazed at the press coverage of the campaign and lack of reality to how I felt the campaign was,” Bush said. “To me, it was an incredible joy and incredible honor and privilege to be a candidate for president.” Who his large donor base will throw their support behind in the race [has been a question since he dropped out](http://time.com/4234433/marco-rubio-jeb-bush-donors/ "undefined") after a defeat in the South Carolina primary. Bush, however, did not endorse a candidate Wednesday. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4236513/jeb-bush-apologizes-sorry/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4236513/jeb-bush-apologizes-sorry/"},"headline":"Jeb Bush to Donors: 'I'm Sorry'","datePublished":"2016-02-24T22:43:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:21:26.519Z","description":"“I’m sorry that it didn’t turn out the way that I intended when I launched the campaign”","url":"https://time.com/4236513/jeb-bush-apologizes-sorry/","keywords":["2016 Election","republicans","2016 Election topic","jeb bush","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5ea8125924bd05b6/69887e703c16397bea45c1ce/jeb-bush2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5ea8125924bd05b6/69887e703c16397bea45c1ce/jeb-bush2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"CNN Hosts South Carolina Republican Presidential Town Hall","caption":"CNN Hosts South Carolina Republican Presidential Town Hall","creditText":"Daniel Acker—Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4236513/jeb-bush-apologizes-sorry/","name":"Jeb Bush to Donors: 'I'm Sorry'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch Jeb Bush's Saddest Campaign Moments","description":"At one time the Republican front-runner, Bush led the race for the nomination until the late summer emergence of billionaire Donald Trump as a contender.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/xTuQ6C6q/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-02-19T19:26:20.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xTuQ6C6q.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4236513/jeb-bush-apologizes-sorry/","duration":"PT2M36S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4236513/jeb-bush-apologizes-sorry/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```