The first challenge to Trump in 2020 on the Republican side of the ticket is taking shape. It’s not official yet, but the former mayor of Massachusetts has just launched a presidential exploratory committee with that goal in mind:
Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, who was the 2016 vice presidential nominee on the Libertarian ticket, says he's launching a presidential exploratory committee to run as a Republican https://t.co/bsOfHMa9WW pic.twitter.com/LAFOHyhGZW
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) February 15, 2019
CNN – Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld said he’s launching a presidential exploratory committee to run in 2020 as a Republican.
“I hope to see the Republican Party assume once again the mantle of being the party of Lincoln. It upsets me that our energies as a society are being sapped by the President’s culture of divisiveness in Washington,” he said Friday in New Hampshire. “Because of the many concerns, I’ve established an exploratory committee … as a Republican in the 2020 election.”
Weld was the 2016 vice presidential nominee on the Libertarian Party ticket with former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson.
Weld will face an uphill battle in his efforts to take down Trump. History shows that presidents generally only face serious primary challenges when their approval rating within their own party is at 75% or below. Trump is currently far above this threshold.
This isn’t a strong challenge in my opinion and it doesn’t worry me. I think Trump would roll right over Weld without even campaigning much.
But I anticipate that Weld won’t be the only challenge to Trump in the primary, should he continue down that road. But we’ll see.