- May 22, 2015 -
Trump Takes Shots at Fellow Republicans
In a 70-minute speech before an audience of 1,500 in Sarasota, Florida on Thursday night, the business titan and storied dealmaker took shots at his fellow Republicans.
The crowd went wild and chanted Trump's name even before he took the stage at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Center to receive the 'Statesman of the Year' award from the local Republican party.
Other than the large-scale events where some Republican presidential candidates have launched their campaigns, Thursday night's gathering drew a larger turnout than any other speech this year by a single GOP hopeful.
Trump, 68, leveled his aim and fired at Florida's former governor Jeb Bush and the state's junior senator Marco Rubio, along with former tech CEO Carly Fiorina. Trump mocked Rubio and Bush for hemming and hawing on the value of George W. Bush's Iraq war and savaged Carly Fiorina's business career, saying Hewlett-Packard's stock 'went up 7 points the day she got fired.'
'It's hard for me,' he said. 'I like these people but they don't have it. It's not gonna happen. Even the people I do like – it’s not going to happen, folks. They’re not doing what I do. I do it better than anybody.'
