Rarely does one political candidate reserve an entire speech for insulting another candidate of the same political party. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal surprised us last Thursday when he tore into fellow Republican candidate Donald Trump during a speech to the National Press Club. Jindal took a page from Trump’s book and threw political correctness out the window, using insults like “shallow,” “absurd,” and “insecure” to describe the current GOP frontrunner.
It gets worse. While Jindal says he likes “the idea of Donald Trump,” he considers the billionaire’s campaign to be nothing but a “carnival act.” During his now-famous speech, he condemned Trump as an “egomaniac,” a “narcissist,” and a “madman.”
“You may have recently seen that after Trump said the Bible is his favorite book, he couldn’t name a single Bible verse or passage that meant something to him,” said Jindal. “And we all know why, because it’s all just a show, and he hasn’t ever read the Bible. But you know why he hasn’t read the Bible? Because he’s not in it.”
According to Jindal, Trump would not “make America great again,” but serve only himself if elected President. “If we nominate him, we will self-destruct in a massive way in a general election. He may be Hillary Clinton’s only hope.”
Donald Trump retaliated with an almost polite (for Trump) message on Twitter saying that he does not respond to people who fail to register higher than 1% in the polls. “I never thought he had a chance and I’ve been proven right,” wrote Trump.
Jindal is facing a backlash of criticism as he continues to rage against Trump on Twitter. Most respondents advise him to stay on track with his campaign instead of wasting time insulting his competitors. I agree.
Publishers Note (sorry Alice, couldn’t resist): It does occur to us Bobby Jindal is exceedingly low in the polls and has nothing to lose, and so may have been selected by others to be the “attack dog” against Trump. The chances this behavior will get publicity and elevate Bobby Jindal’s poll numbers are exceedingly remote, a desperate play, frankly beneath him. However he is such a loyalist to the party he may have consented to be a willing sacrificial lamb. Time will tell.