Weld exits primary race against Trump

WASHINGTON — Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld has ended his Republican primary challenge to President Donald Trump.

Weld said in a statement Wednesday that he was suspending his 2020 presidential bid. It came hours after Trump secured the number of delegates needed to clinch the Republican presidential nomination at the summer convention.

“The reason that people all over the world look to the United States for leadership, as they do, is our dedication to the rule of law under our Constitution,” Weld said in a statement announcing the suspension of his campaign. He did not mention Trump by name, but he added that if a president does not observe the rule of law, “we will truly have lost our compass.”

Weld was a 2016 vice presidential candidate on the Libertarian ticket and was Massachusetts governor in the 1990s.

His latest bid failed to gain traction as the Republican Party increasingly closed ranks around the president, with a number of states canceling their primaries and other nominating contests. Two other Republican candidates have already ended their bids: Joe Walsh, a former congressman from Illinois, and Mark Sanford, a former South Carolina governor and congressman.

Weld was the final major Republican challenger to Trump.

Weld’s announcement came in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, and aides said he planned to make no appearances or conduct any interviews because he did not want to distract from coverage of the crisis.