Ex-governor will challenge Trump in GOP primary
BEDFORD, N.H. — William Weld, a former Massachusetts governor who ran for vice president on the Libertarian Party ticket in 2016, became the first Republican to take a serious step toward challenging President Trump in 2020.
Speaking Friday at a breakfast in New Hampshire, Weld said he has created a presidential exploratory committee. He blasted Trump for leaving the nation in “grave peril.”
“We have a president whose priorities are skewed towards promotion of himself,” Weld said. “He may have great energy and considerable raw talent, but he does not use that in ways that promote democracy, truth, justice and equal opportunity for all. To compound matters, our president is simply too unstable to carry out the duties of the highest executive office in the land.”
The move makes Trump the first incumbent president since George H.W. Bush in 1992 to face a notable primary challenge. Other Republicans eyeing a presidential campaign include former Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan.
Trump remains very popular with Republicans, so he faces little risk in losing the GOP nomination. But primary challenges often foreshadow trouble. Bush and Jimmy Carter lost their bids for a second term after facing challenges from within their own party.
Asked to comment on Weld’s campaign, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders responded: “Who?”
Stephen Stepanek, the chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party, pointed to Weld’s past support of President Barack Obama and said he didn’t “expect his campaign to get very far among Republican primary voters.
“The Republican Party is a big tent, but someone who endorsed Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 and supported Hillary Clinton in 2016 as the Libertarian Party’s vice presidential nominee really needs to think about how welcome he is in the Republican Party,” Stepanek said.
Weld, 73, ran on the Libertarian party ticket in 2016 with former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, receiving about 4.5 million votes, or a little more than 3 percent of the national vote.
While holding the line on spending and taxes, Weld as governor embraced liberal positions at odds with national Republicans on abortion and gay rights.