Donald Trump and Jeb Bush trade insults in competing 'Morning Joe' interviews

"Morning Joe"/screenshot

Real-estate tycoon Donald Trump and former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida exchanged jabs Monday in separate "Morning Joe" interviews.

Bush, who has been Trump's most consistent critic on the presidential campaign trail, blasted some of his GOP competitors for not similarly going after Trump.

"It's ridiculous," Bush said after suggesting his opponents were scared of Trump, the Republican front-runner.

"The guy's just a real-estate guy," Bush continued. "He's gone bankrupt four times. He's a successful man, but he's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. So why not confront him and challenge him?"

The MSNBC show then played a word-association game with Bush. The first word: "Trump."

"Loser," Bush replied without hesitating.

Trump later called into "Morning Joe" for a subsequent interview. Trump fired back at Bush, whom he repeatedly called a "stiff."

"Jeb is an interesting duck," Trump said. "Here's the story on Jeb: He's a stiff who you wouldn't hire in private enterprise, OK? This is a stiff. This is a guy that if he came looking for a job, you'd say, 'No thank you.' And that's the way it is."

After accusing Bush of lying about Trump's record, Trump added:

The guy's a total stiff. He's not going anywhere. Remember this — for the voters — he wants Common Core and he's very weak on immigration. Remember … he said, "They come to our country through the act of love." Jeb is weak on immigration.

Bush and Trump have each been focused on Tuesday's primary in New Hampshire.

Watch the candidates attack each other on 'Morning Joe' below:

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/696687113773813761
.@realDonaldTrump responds to @JebBush calling him a 'loser': Jeb Bush is 'a total stiff' https://t.co/6TwPNvQJP9Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/696687113773813761
.@realDonaldTrump responds to @JebBush calling him a 'loser': Jeb Bush is 'a total stiff' https://t.co/6TwPNvQJP9

NOW WATCH: This botched intro was the most entertaining moment of the GOP debate