Big Fat Baby Trump fears everyone, but I think the 2020 challenger he fears the most is Bill Weld

[mtnsnake]

who is the former Republican governor of Massachusetts and who was the VP nominee on the Libertarian ticket in 2016.

(Note: Even though this topic is a primaries issue, I didn't post this in the Democratic Primaries forum because Weld is not a Democrat, obviously.)

It's not official yet, but Weld is planning to challenge Trump in the 2020 Republican Primaries. I heard Weld this morning answering questions in an interview on MSNBC, and he pulverized Trump more effectively than many other people have done so far. He compared Trump to a dictator and to Big Brother of 1984. He said if Trump had his way there would be no free elections and no free primaries, no free anything, just like the dictator he hopes to be. Among other things, Weld emphasized how Trump constantly lies and constantly uses fear tactics to divide instead of unite. All of that coming from a Republican.

When asked the tough question of whether he would support a Democrat over Trump, Weld didn't say he would support a Democrat, but he said he couldn't support someone like Trump. Weld said that Trump is doing everything possible to prevent him from running against him in a Primary challenge.

Even though I don't think Weld stands a chance of beating Trump in a Republican Primary, Trump knows that the damage Weld would inflict upon him would be irreversible. We all know that Trump and the GOP are so corrupt that they'll do everything under the sun to keep Weld out a Republican Primary challenge, but it would be great to see him (Weld) go up against Trump. Even if he only received a small part of the votes in the Republican Primaries, it would be great to hear Weld, a Republican, bash Trump during the Republican debates because it could possibly open more than a few eyes among so many of the ignorant who voted for Trump last time around. The fools who don't believe anything a Democrat says just might believe one of their own Republicans.

[Vinca]

1. I hope Weld runs. If he does, I'm crossing over in the primary and voting for him.

Since I'll vote for any Democrat in the general election, any pain I can cause the Manbaby in the primary is worth it.

[vlyons]

3. Not in a million years would I ever vote for a Libertarian for anything

They are usually Ayn Randers, and don't want businesses to submit to any rules and regulations. If your preferred Dem candidate is running 2nd or 3rd in the polls, he/she will need your primary vote.

[Chemisse]

16. I don't think I could pass up the chance to weigh in on the Dem primaries.

Of course, I will back whoever our nominee is, but I'm sure by the time we get to election day, I am going to care a lot about who that nominee will be.

We'll see though. If it's a blow-out, I'll vote against Stupid.

[winstars]

2. I met Bill Weld once and he was a very smart and personable guy...

But he hasn't been around much for a long time, not sure if he could get out of the starting gate. I would love him to.

I didn't this appearance on MSNBC, will try to find it...

[mtnsnake]

9. I agree about him being smart. He is much smarter than I originally gave him credit for in 2016.

He answered a lot of tough questions in perfect fashion during that interview. I caught the interview after it had started while I was flipping channels this morning. I also tried to find it online this morning with no luck. It was a woman who did the interview. I've seen her before but can't think of her name.

[Skinner]

4. Bill Weld seems like a reasonable person. But I doubt Trump fears him at all.

Bill Weld is a type of Republican that doesn't exist anymore. In fact, these days they have a name for Republicans like him: "Democrats." There are literally zero Republicans left who in the party who would consider Bill Weld to be a tempting alternative to Trump. It's like if former Democrat Richard Shelby decided to run in the Democratic presidential primary.

Trump might be a little scared if someone like John Kasich ran against him. But I'm becoming pretty skeptical that any actual Republicans in the mainstream of the party have the guts to run against Trump.

[mtnsnake]

8. Maybe he doesn't fear Weld in particular, but I think he has to fear if ANY Repub challenges him

in a Republican Primary because of the split it could cause among their voters. I certainly agree with you about Kasich posing more of a threat to Trump than Weld, but when all is said and done, I don't think Kasich will challenge Trump. I think Kasich is just a big blowhard.

Anyway, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that someone, anyone, Weld or whomever, challenges Trump in the Republican Primary because of the split and hard feelings it could cause among the corrupt and ignorant. But I mainly hope that a challenge could help many of the fence sitters who voted for Trump in 2016 realize that Democrats are the best choice for them and for the country as a whole. A republican challenge just might get the type of conversation started among republicans that is so much needed at this time.

[dalton99a]

5. Same guy who wants to repeal the estate tax for the rich and cut government spending for the poor

[smirkymonkey]

6. I'm all for Weld going up against Trump in the republican primary.

He doesn't have a chance of winning, so his politics are irrelevant (although he is fairly liberal for a republican/libertarian), but he does have a chance of causing major damage to Trump, especially in the eyes of republican voters.

[mtnsnake]

11. Yup. Plus, incumbent presidents who face primary challengers usually don't get re-elected

That alone is reason enough to hope some Republican, anyone, has the guts to challenge him in the Republican Primary.

Maybe someone else will come up with enough guts to do so. Maybe Kasich, Romney, Rubio, or some other repub, who the heck knows. Right now, Weld apparently is the only repub with the guts to take him on.

[smirkymonkey]

12. I saw somewhere in the local news that Weld doesn't really believe he has a chance either,

but he believes he would be taking one for the team by challenging Trump in the primary. He said something to the effect that this would be the last great thing he would do for his country by helping to bring Trump down. This is not about his ego, but about saving the nation from the danger of giving a fascist leader a chance to continue on his destructive path.

[FM123]

7. I wish Weld would run as an Independent.

This way he could split off some of those repug votes to our benefit.

[Opel_Justwax]

10. Libertarians are not the smartest people in the room.

I think someone is lost and posted this on the wrong board.

[BadGimp]

13. Only Republicans can save America at this point imo.

The problem is the Republicans that are needed, are not in charge of anything.

[book_worm]

14. Silly headline since Trump is going to win overwhelmingly in the GOP primaries.

[mtnsnake]

15. Maybe if you read the post and not just the headline you wouldn't have missed the point

...the point being that even though Weld stands little chance of beating Trump in a primary challenge, the damage he, or any republican primary challenger for that matter, could do would be devastating for Trump's re-election chances in the general, especially since Weld is one of the more reasonable Republicans out there.

[RobinA]

17. Somehow

my faint memory of Weld is that he’s somewhat normal? Jeez, if only. How long has it been since we had an election betwee two same people? Clinton/Bush?

[FakeNoose]

18. Why would a Libertarian run against Chump?

This does't make sense to me. If Weld is a Libertarian, he's already got the best pResident ever.