Former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld says he will challenge President Trump

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Washington Post



Former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld told an audience in New Hampshire Friday that he will try to take on President Trump in the 2020 Republican presidential primary, offering the first high-profile challenge to the president’s reelection effort.

Weld, 73, said he would seek to determine over the coming months if he can raise enough money to continue his challenge of the president. He said he would run on a traditional Republican agenda of fiscal responsibility and provide a stylistic contrast to Trump.

“It is time for all people of good will — and our country is filled with people of good will — to take a stand and plant a flag,” Weld said during a speech Friday at a Politics & Eggs breakfast in Bedford, N.H. “In every country, there comes a time when patriotic men and women must stand up and speak out,” he said. “In our country, this is such a time.”

Weld opened his remarks in the first primary state with an unflinching denunciation of the president — “he acts like a schoolyard bully” — and Republicans in Washington who “exhibit all the symptoms of Stockholm syndrome.” “We don’t need six more years of the antics we have seen,” he said.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/former-massachusetts-governor-bill-weld-announces-plan-to-challenge-president-trump-for-republican-nomination/2019/02/15/998671f6-307f-11e9-86ab-5d02109aeb01_story.html

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Full title: Former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld says he will challenge President Trump for the Republican presidential nomination

NOW UPDATED

Original article -

Former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld says he will challenge President Trump for the Republican presidential nomination

By Washington Post Staff
February 15 at 8:54 AM

The president remains popular with Republican voters, but Weld said he would attempt to defeat him or at a minimum hurt him with a primary challenge. Weld, who was governor of Massachusetts from 1991 until 1997, left the Republican Party in 2016 to run as the Libertarian Party’s vice-presidential nominee. He returned to the GOP this month.

This is a developing story. It will be updated.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2019/02/15/former-massachusetts-governor-bill-weld-says-he-will-challenge-president-trump-for-the-republican-presidential-nomination/?utm_term=.535e7dc38b39

[Shell_Seas]

1. Yes! Split the Republican vote!!

[Polybius]

13. It won't be split

He is challenging him in the Republican Primary, not the general election.

[Atman]

2. I voted for Bill Weld way back in Massachusetts.

There is no Republican I would vote for today. Including Weld.

[JenniferJuniper]

5. Well, I'm guessing you were voting against

John Silber? So was I, but I don't count it as voting for Weld.

Still, I'd love him to be alternative choice for righties.

[thesquanderer]

11. re: "Still, I'd love him to be alternative choice for righties."

Tough choice. He would be better for the country than the possibility of four more years of Trump... but I think he'd be harder for the Dems to beat, and could strengthen the Republican party overall.

[janx]

12. I don't know about strengthening it as it stands now,

but he certainly would change it.

[Atman]

18. Exactly

Silver was just too hat-shit crazy to vote for. Weld was quite reasonable by comparison. I met him personally while working with the Springfield, MA school board. I agree that he might actually be a formidable challenger for Dems. He comes across as quite moderate and “normal,” someone people wouldn’t be afraid to vote for.

[BostonBlue]

20. I couldn't abide Silber

so my one and GOP vote was cast for Weld. I regretted it later.

[Funtatlaguy]

3. Kasich and Hogan both may jump in too. Lol.

[IronLionZion]

7. Kasich might help make a difference in the Midwest

and get enough voters to turn against Trump

[yellowcanine]

17. Hogan won't run. Not enough national name recognition.

He might be a possibility as a VP with a the right running mate, but otherwise, I don't think so.

[NewJeffCT]

4. The RNC is rigging the process

so some of the early states are going to skip primaries and just endorse Trump

[Dopers_Greed]

6. We'll see if the M$M reports on this

Like their endless reporting on the DNC "rigging" the primaries for Clinton.

My guess is probably not.

[BumRushDaShow]

10. They reported on it before

but almost like as a neutral report or a "good thing". Examples -

https://www.npr.org/2019/01/04/681987077/rnc-members-want-to-block-a-primary-challenge-to-trump-but-the-rules-may-stop-th

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/republicans-in-early-primary-states-face-a-choice-protect-trump-or-their-place-in-line/

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/01/gop-could-cancel-primaries-to-protect-trump-from-a-challenge.html

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/republicans-move-to-protect-trump-from-primary-challenges/

No language about "rigging" a primary.

[watoos]

8. Well, Libertarians may have weed in their closets,

but they also have white sheets.

[janx]

9. GOOD. n/t

[Sucha NastyWoman]

14. What we need is a Republican anti-Trump person

To run as an independent. That would split the ticket

[BumRushDaShow]

15. If he loses the primaries

he could still do that...

[Apollyonus]

16. Weld, Kasich et al should run in the GE

They don't stand a prayer in the primaries.

[not_the_one]

19. It is time for all people of good will to take a stand and plant a flag, says Weld

Yeah, there are still people of good will, but you won't find many in the current iteration of the republican party. The core republican base has finally devolved to consist of the privileged (who can never have enough, much less too much), the pious (who are determined to control and force their religious bullshit on the rest of us) and the prejudiced (who hate anyone of color, or who is "different" ).

But if it pisses turdface off, go for it.

[madville]

21. Who?

Trump's at 89% approval among Republicans, they'll just ignore any primary challengers and have already rigged it in his favor.