Former GOP governor defends decision to run against Trump

Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld on Sunday defended his decision to pursue a 2020 Republican primary challenge against President Donald Trump, saying in an interview on ABC News’ “This Week” that he is acting in the best interests of the country.

“I think the Republicans in Washington want to have no election, basically. I don’t think that would be very good for the country,” Weld told host Martha Raddatz.

Weld announced his decision in New Hampshire on Friday, becoming the first high-profile challenge to Trump’s reelection bid.

In the ABC interview, Weld also criticized Trump’s leadership style, pointing to the president’s declaration of a national emergency in pursuit of a wall along the border with Mexico.

“He thinks he has to humiliate whoever he’s dealing with, or else he’s half a man,” Weld said. “The emergency declaration is just one example of that. Congress thought they had a deal. He says, ‘Oh, you think you have a deal? I’m going to show you a deal. I’m going to show you who’s boss.’ It’s just no way to run a railroad.”

A Washington Post-ABC News poll released last month showed that 78 percent of Republicans approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president, a figure that suggests Weld faces an uphill climb in challenging Trump for the GOP nomination.

Weld said Sunday that he plans to woo voters in part by arguing that Trump is “reckless in spending.”

“They’re spending a trillion dollars a year. They don’t have that. It’s going to crush Generation X-ers and millennials in this country,” he said.

Weld also contended that Trump’s “hyperemphasis” on a border wall is “pure politics on his part.”

“It’s part of a plan, I think, on his part to make himself seem indispensable. He’s not indispensable at all,” Weld said. “People, you know, getting through between the fences that are already on the border with Mexico are not a national emergency, and they’re not a major national security threat to the United States.”

Weld served as governor of Massachusetts from 1991 to 1997, developing a reputation as a moderate Republican.

He ran unsuccessfully for Senate in 1996 and, about a decade later, for governor of New York.