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Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush credited his former political foe President Donald Trump’s “historic leadership” on pushing for a denuclearized and democratized Iran, saying that his current organization — United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) – stands ready to help Trump and the people of Iran against Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
With Trump’s emergence into presidential politics in 2015, he found his top rival in the former Florida governor, notably dubbing him “Low Energy Jeb” — as the Republican scion hit back that the mogul could not “insult his way to the presidency.”
This week, détente appeared to emerge between the two as Bush heaped praise on Trump’s position after the president urged Iranian “patriots [to] keep protesting.”
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Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump (L) and Jeb Bush take part in the presidential debates at the Reagan Library on September 16, 2015 in Simi Valley, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
“Take over your institutions. Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday.
“President Trump continues to demonstrate historic leadership on Iran, with unprecedented support for the Iranian people as they face bullets for freedom. We at UANI join him in standing with the brave people of Iran.”
Bush leads UANI alongside former Ambassador Mark Wallace, the ex-husband of MS-NOW host Nicolle Wallace and a key diplomat in Bush’s brother’s White House.
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“UANI applauds President Trump’s unprecedented support of the people of Iran as they fight to reclaim their country,” Bush and Wallace said in a statement.
“For far too long, the United States and the West have equivocated in expressing support for the people of Iran in the face of the Ayatollah’s violence and repression.”
“President Trump’s post made clear that no longer will the United States and the West lack the moral clarity to support the people of Iran as they face bullets for freedom. That change is historic.”
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Donald Trump, left. Jeb Bush, right. (Frederic Brown/Getty Images)
Trump has been praised for taking a harder line than recent presidents against Iran, cancelling talks with Tehran leaders after reports surfaced that they were shooting and killing protesters in the streets.
“UANI joins with President Trump and stands with the brave people of Iran in their struggle against the Ayatollah,” Bush and Wallace added.
Their group is a nonprofit, nonpartisan one, formed to combat threats posed by Iran.
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The tenor between the two Republican stalwarts is a marked change from the turbulent 2016 sweeps.
At the time, Trump often mocked Bush for his family’s involvement in the race, reportedly saying, “Your mom can’t help you with ISIS” after former first lady Barbara Bush cut a campaign ad for her son.
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“Donald is great at the one-liners,” Bush quipped during a 2015 debate. “But he’s a chaos candidate.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment on the two leaders’ new common ground.
On Iran, a senior administration official said the administration supports the people of Iran against the regime’s continued human rights abuses and authoritarian repression, and that the regime is one of the world’s worst violators of human rights; oppressing its people to maintain its grip on power.
