Jeb Bush: 'This is the bumpy time of a campaign'
In an interview on NBC's Meet The Press on Sunday, Bush told moderator Chuck Todd that he has enough "self-awareness" to know that his campaign is not going well.
"I have enough self-awareness to know that this is the bumpy time of a campaign," Bush said. "This is the process. I totally understand it, and I'm more than prepared to fight on."
Bush's comments come only days after a widely-criticized debate performance during which Bush spoke less than almost any other candidate, stumbled over answers to key questions, and failed to stymie the momentum of one of his key rivals, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida).
"It was a tough night for Governor Bush," a top GOP advisor told Business Insider following the debate. "Senator Rubio bested him in their one exchange and he failed to score any points the rest of the evening. His big money donors are not going to be happy with the state of his campaign."
On Sunday's broadcast, Bush criticized the debate format, and told Todd that while he has not gone back and watched his own performance, he is going to do better in the next round on November 10.
"I know I gotta get better at doing the debate," Bush said. "I'm a grinder. I mean, when I see that I'm not doing something well then I reset and I get better, and I'm going to get better."
"This is not debating. I mean, whatever it's called, it's not debating. Because I can complete a sentence in the English language pretty well, and I have ideas that can lift people up."
But the debate performance is only one of Bush's current woes.
Last week, Bush announced massive, across-the-board campaign cuts for key staff. And on Friday, the COO of Bush's campaign suddenly departed. The recent changes have also reportedly begun to scare key campaign donors, many of whom believed that Bush would be a sure bet for the nomination.