“It’s hard to beat a sitting president, but to have a conversation about what it is to be a conservative, I think it’s important,” said 2016 candidate Jeb Bush. | AP Photo/Steven Senne, File 2020 elections Jeb Bush says a Republican should run against Trump in 2020

Jeb Bush said he thinks a fellow Republican should challenge President Donald Trump in 2020, according to a portion of an interview for the series “The Axe Files.”

The excerpt was tweeted by show host David Axelrod, a commentator and ex-adviser to former President Barack Obama. Axelrod’s interview with Bush, who went up against Trump in the 2016 Republican primary, is set to air on CNN at 7 p.m. on Saturday.


“I think someone should run just because Republicans ought to be given a choice,” Bush said. “It’s hard to beat a sitting president, but to have a conversation about what it is to be a conservative, I think it’s important.”

Axelrod wrote in a subsequent tweet that Bush, a former Florida governor, had been “incredibly candid on all fronts,” including on the state of the country and the Republican Party.

In the same interview, according to CNN , Bush also discussed a speech he gave at the inauguration of Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, who has yet to rule out a 2020 bid . Of Hogan’s own inaugural speech, Bush said he "kind of got a sense that maybe this was an opening" for Hogan to consider a presidential campaign.