Spotlight: Jeb Bush the latest powerful Republican to denounce party nominee Trump

WASHINGTON, May 6 -- Former Republican presidential contender Jeb Bush announced on Friday he would not vote for either GOP presumptive nominee Donald Trump or Democratic front-runner Hillary Clintonin the general election.

"In November, I will not vote for Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, but I will support principled conservatives at the state and federal levels," said Bush on his facebookpage.

In his denouncement of Trump, Bush wrote that Trump did not shown the "great fortitude and humility and the temperament and strong character" required for the U.S. presidency.

"He has not displayed a respect for the Constitution. And he is not a consistent conservative," added Bush.

Bush's refusal to support Trump came as no surprise since the former Florida governor was one of the vocal critics of Trump on the campaign trail.

Still, Bush's announcement on Friday highlighted the rift within the GOP that is unlikely to be mended anytime soon.

So far, four previous GOP presidential nominees, namely George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, John McCain and Mitt Romneyhad announced that they wouldn't attend the GOP National Convention in July when Trump would be formally nominated.

Also, in a rare move on Thursday, U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryantold CNN that he was not ready to support Trump.

"I'm just not ready to do that at this point. I'm not there right now," said the top House Republican and 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee in an interview with CNN.

Despite Trump's recent pledge to unify the GOP after his bombastic style and incendiary remarks had alienated many within the party, Ryan on Thursday took implicit jabs at the presumptive GOP standard-bearer, urging Trump to run a campaign that would allow Americans to "have something that they're proud to support and proud to be a part of."

"We've got a way to go from here to there," said Ryan.

Ryan's position had so far made him the highest-level Republican official to reject Trump's campaign since the New York billionaire developer won Indiana on Tuesday and forced his last two competitors out of the race.

Trump first drew widespread criticism last June when he said in his presidential announcement speech that Mexico was sending "rapists" and drug dealers to the United States. Since that, he had repeatedly vowed, if elected president, to deport about 11 million undocumented immigrants in the country.

In another outburst of emotional remarks, Trump called for a "total and complete" ban on Muslims entering the United States in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks in November 2015.

Since then, the targets of Trump's insults expanded to include women, African-American protesters, family members of rivals, etc.

According to a list compiled by The New York Times, Trump had insulted on Twitter 210 individuals, places and things since declaring his presidential candidacy last June.

The Times list did not include targets of Trump's insults broadcasted on cable.