Former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld ran on the Libertarian ticket in 2016 with former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson. On Monday afternoon, he announced that he is planning to challenge Trump for the Republican nomination in 2020.
Weld made the announcement on CNN, which is probably no coincidence, and even Jake Tapper questioned why Weld would bother, considering how high Trump’s approval ratings are among Republicans.
Steve Brusk and Kate Sullivan of CNN provide details:
Bill Weld officially announces he is challenging Trump for GOP nomination in 2020Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld announced Monday he is officially entering the race for president, becoming the first Republican to challenge President Donald Trump in the 2020 race.”Ours is a nation built on courage, resilience, and independence. In these times of great political strife, when both major parties are entrenched in their ‘win at all cost’ battles, the voices of the American people are being ignored and our nation is suffering,” Weld, who had previously formed an exploratory committee, said in a statement…Weld told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead” that it would be a “political tragedy” and he would “fear for the Republic” if the country had six more years of Trump as President.”I really think if we have six more years of the same stuff we’ve had out of the White House the last two years that would be a political tragedy, and I would fear for the Republic,” he said.”I would be ashamed of myself if I didn’t raise my hand and run,” he told Tapper…Trump enjoys a nearly 90% approval rating among Republicans, according to Gallup. When asked about the President’s historically high approval rating and whether Weld believes he can beat him in the primary, Weld said, “Yeah, I do.”
Weld also claims he won’t run third party.
You can watch the segment below:
Never-Trumpers and members of the so-called ‘resistance’ must be overjoyed at this news.
In case you have forgotten, just before the 2016 election, when it was clear that he and Johnson had no chance of making an impact on the election, Weld appeared on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow show to promote Hillary.
Here’s part of what he said, via Real Clear Politics:
MADDOW: I can’t imagine that you wouldn’t tell a person in North Carolina or Ohio to vote for Hillary Clinton if the choice they were making was between giving the Libertarian Party 5% or potentially electing Donald Trump because you guys don’t have a chance against Donald Trump and she does and if they vote for you they would be helping to elect Donald Trump. The Libertarian Party hasn’t treated you great if they’re putting out statements that you disagree with over your name even now, one week before the election I can’t imagine that your loyalty to them is stronger than your fear of Trump as a President.WELD: Well I’m here vouching for Mrs. Clinton and I think it’s high time somebody did and I’m doing it based on my personal experience with her and I think she deserves to have people vouch for her other than members of the Democratic National Committee so I’m here to do that.
You can watch that interview below:
Here’s his announcement tweet:
I’m with Kennedy on this:
This is so true:
Featured image via YouTube.
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