Weld said he would be "ashamed" if he passed on running against President Trump. Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld announced Monday that he's officially running for president, becoming the first Republican to mount a primary challenge against President Donald Trump. Weld, the 2016 Libertarian vice presidential candidate, said he would have been "ashamed" if he passed on running against the president for the Republican party nomination. "I'd be ashamed of myself if hadn't raised my hand and said count me in," he told ABC news shortly after his announcement. "I think that the president is a very divisive force and that's just not my style and it's not what Americans deserve." Weld said he’s jumping into the race not just because of Trump's tone and political tactics, but because of his refusal to address the major issues impacting Americans. "The president is just not dealing with serious issues such as global warming and climate change. That's a real threat to us as a country," Weld said. "And for the president to just say it's a hoax, that's not responsible government." "It is time for patriotic men and women across our great nation to stand and plant a flag," Weld said in a statement. "There is no greater cause on earth than to preserve what truly makes America great. I am ready to lead that fight." In February, Weld told ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz on "This Week" that he was was considering a primary challenge because "we don't have six more years of the antics frankly, for want of a better word, that we've seen the last two years. I think that would be bad for the country and I don't care who knows it." On Monday, the former two-term governor boasted of his bipartisan record and ability to court independent voters. "There's plenty of play, there's plenty of play here," Weld argued when asked about how he plans to chip Republicans away from Trump, who's historically popular with his party. But Weld says he’s "confident" he can lure enough Republicans into his camp to make the primary a serious fight for the president. "What you see now is the president is popular with the state party apparatuses and they work with him and he's giving them orders saying, 'Don't let any fresh air in here. We don't really want a primary anywhere.'" "The fact that we have a whole year yet to go, before even the early primaries, that's plenty enough time to make this case," Weld added. And according to Weld, his success in 2020 will be hinged on primary states where independents can vote will be key. "There are 20 primaries where independents can vote in the Republican primaries, 20 states, and I'll be focusing on the," Weld said. "It's not just New Hampshire. I'll probably be making swings through California, Oregon, Washington … I'll be active in the Mid-Atlantic states, particularly New York, also Pennsylvania and Delaware and Maryland and a bunch of other states out West." And with the release of the redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report looming this week, Weld echoed Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe in saying "he may not be a Russian asset but he might as well be." The Republican challenger to Trump argued that the president’s attacks on NATO were dangerous and exactly what Russian President Vladimir Putin couldn’t imagine "in his wildest dreams." "NATO is our forward arm to contain the Soviet Union," Weld said. "[Trump’s] not a student of history, but he should understand at least that much."<doc-sep>BOSTON — William Weld, a former governor of Massachusetts who two years ago ran for vice president on the Libertarian Party ticket, on Monday became the first Republican to challenge President Donald Trump in the 2020 primaries. Weld, 73, said in announcing his candidacy that “it is time to return to the principles of Lincoln — equality, dignity and opportunity for all.” He said, “There is no greater cause on earth than to preserve what truly makes America great. I am ready to lead that fight.” Weld has accused Trump of leaving the nation in “grave peril” and has said his “priorities are skewed toward promotion of himself rather than for the good of the country.” While Trump’s overall approval ratings have been poor for much of his presidency, he remains popular with Republican voters. The Republican National Committee in January issued a nonbinding resolution to declare the party’s undivided support for Trump. The move by Weld makes Trump the first incumbent president since George H.W. Bush in 1992 to face a notable primary challenge. Fiscally conservative but socially liberal, Weld is known for an unconventional, at times quirky, political style and a long history of friction with the party he now seeks to lead. Weld endorsed Democrat Barack Obama over Republican nominee John McCain in 2008, later saying it was a mistake to do so, and has enjoyed a decadeslong friendship with the Clintons, which began early in his career when he served alongside Hillary Clinton as a lawyer for the House Judiciary Committee during the Watergate proceedings. Weld’s nomination by President Bill Clinton to be U.S. ambassador to Mexico touched off a bitter public spat with then-Sen. Jesse Helms, a conservative Republican from South Carolina who chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Years earlier, Weld was among a handful of top Justice Department officials to resign in protest over alleged ethical violations by then-Attorney General Ed Meese, long a favorite of conservatives. With little in the way of organization or outside money, and at odds with a majority of GOP voters who solidly support Trump, Weld’s longshot campaign will target disaffected Republicans and independents who share his disdain for the president and embrace libertarian values of small government, free trade and free markets, and personal freedom. Alternately a politician, federal prosecutor, investment banker, lobbyist and even novelist — his political mystery called “Mackerel by Moonlight” was published to mixed reviews in 1998 — the Harvard-educated scion of a prominent Boston family was a lifelong Republican before bolting the GOP to run on the Libertarian Party ticket with former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson in 2016. Johnson and Weld received about 4.5 million votes, a little more than 3% of the national popular vote. Despite a pledge to libertarians that he would remain loyal to the party going forward, Weld on Jan. 17 walked into the clerk’s office of the Massachusetts town where he lives and re-registered with the GOP, adding to speculation that he would challenge Trump in the primaries. Weld has not won a political race since being re-elected governor by a landslide in his heavily Democratic state in 1994. He was first elected to the office in 1990, defeating a conservative Democratic candidate, and quickly became one of Massachusetts’ most popular governors in recent history. While holding the line on spending and taxes, Weld as governor embraced liberal positions at odds with national Republicans on abortion and gay rights. His low-key style and sharp wit also seemed to play well with voters as did his penchant for the unexpected: He once ended a news conference touting progress in cleaning up Boston’s polluted Charles River by diving fully clothed into the waterway. After winning a second term, Weld’s attention appeared to drift away from the governor’s office and toward other political pursuits. He briefly entertained a run for president in 1996 before mounting an unsuccessful campaign that year to unseat Democratic Sen. John Kerry. He resigned as governor the following year after Clinton nominated him to be ambassador to Mexico, but it was a post he would never hold. Helms dug in his heels and refused to schedule a hearing on the nomination, claiming among other things that Weld’s support for medical marijuana and needle exchange programs for drug users disqualified him from serving in Mexico because of that country’s history of drug trafficking. Weld fired back at Helms, suggesting it was un-American for Helms to refuse to hold a public hearing on a high-profile ambassadorial nomination. Weld left the public arena but later moved to New York, where he would make a brief, unsuccessful bid to become the first person since Sam Houston to serve as governor of two different states.<doc-sep>BOSTON — Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld says he is seeking the Republican nomination against President Donald Trump in 2020. Weld said Monday in announcing his candidacy that “it is time to return to the principles of Lincoln — equality, dignity and opportunity for all.” He said, in his words, “There is no greater cause on earth than to preserve what truly makes America great. I am ready to lead that fight.” Weld was the 2016 Libertarian vice presidential nominee. He served two terms as Massachusetts governor in the 1990s. Weld’s move makes Trump the first incumbent president since George H.W. Bush in 1992 to face a notable primary challenge. The Republican National Committee in January issued a nonbinding resolution to declare the party’s undivided support for Trump.<doc-sep>Bill Weld speaks at a rally during his 2016 Libertarian party campaign, September 10, 2016. (File photo: Mark Kauzlarich/Reuters) Former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld announced Monday that he will mount a Republican primary challenge against incumbent Donald Trump. Weld, who served as governor of the Bay State from 1991 to 1997, announced earlier this year that he’d formed an exploratory committee for a possible presidential run but waited until Monday to make his candidacy official in a statement. Advertisement “Ours is a nation built on courage, resilience, and independence. In these times of great political strife, when both major parties are entrenched in their ‘win at all cost’ battles, the voices of the American people are being ignored and our nation is suffering,” Weld said in the statement. “It is time for patriotic men and women across our great nation to stand and plant a flag. It is time to return to the principles of Lincoln – equality, dignity, and opportunity for all. There is no greater cause on earth than to preserve what truly makes America great. I am ready to lead that fight.” Prior to his two terms as the state’s governor, Weld was appointed to serve as the U.S. attorney for Massachusetts by President Ronald Reagan in 1981. In a video posted to his campaign website, Weld claimed credit for helping to revitalize the Massachusetts economy by disrupting decades of unified Democratic control, cutting taxes and cracking down on crime. He juxtaposed his record as U.S. attorney and governor with that of President Trump, whose character he impugned through a montage of crass statements Trump made during and prior to the 2016 presidential campaign. Weld’s first foray into national politics came in that race, when he served as libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson’s running mate. Johnson and Weld ended up capturing just 3.6 percent of the popular vote after a devastating gaffe in which Johnson admitted he was not aware of the existence of the Syrian city of Aleppo, where intense sectarian fighting was then taking place. Advertisement A number of other prominent Republicans, including former Ohio governor John Kasich and Maryland governor Larry Hogan, have reportedly considered mounting primary challenges against Trump, but Weld is the first Republican challenger to officially enter the race. Send a tip to the news team at NR.<doc-sep>
(CNN) — Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld announced Monday he is officially entering the race for president, becoming the first Republican to challenge President Donald Trump in the 2020 race. “Ours is a nation built on courage, resilience, and independence. In these times of great political strife, when both major parties are entrenched in their ‘win at all cost’ battles, the voices of the American people are being ignored and our nation is suffering,” Weld, who had previously formed an exploratory committee, said in a statement. “It is time for patriotic men and women across our great nation to stand and plant a flag. It is time to return to the principles of Lincoln – equality, dignity, and opportunity for all. There is no greater cause on earth than to preserve what truly makes America great. I am ready to lead that fight.” In 2016, Weld was the vice presidential nominee on the Libertarian Party ticket with former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson. He previously served two terms as the governor of Massachusetts in the early 1990s. Weld ran for Senate in Massachusetts in 1996 and lost against John Kerry. He later moved to New York and in 2005 unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for governor. Weld told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead” that it would be a “political tragedy” and he would “fear for the Republic” if the country had six more years of Trump as President. “I really think if we have six more years of the same stuff we’ve had out of the White House the last two years that would be a political tragedy, and I would fear for the Republic,” he said. “I would be ashamed of myself if I didn’t raise my hand and run,” he told Tapper. Weld said he will not run as an Independent if he does not win the Republican nomination. Trump enjoys a nearly 90% approval rating among Republicans, according to Gallup. When asked about the President’s historically high approval rating and whether Weld believes he can beat him in the primary, Weld said, “Yeah, I do.” “Particularly in New Hampshire, where I’m spending a lot of time, it’s one vote at a time and one voter at a time, and you gotta meet ‘em,” he said. Weld described himself as a “Republican who works across the aisle and gets things done,” and said he would have a “bipartisan Cabinet” if he won the presidency. He said he is an economic conservative, adding that the US “deserves to have some fiscal restraint and conservatism and cutting spending in Washington, DC.” He added that he feels Trump “mocks the rule of law.” “I spent seven years in the Justice Department trying to keep the politics out of law enforcement, he’s trying to put it in,” Weld said. He added: “He has difficulty conforming his conduct to the requirements of law. That’s a … serious matter in the Oval Office.” Weld also slammed Trump’s attitude toward climate change and his confrontational style toward the press. And, while Weld sees blame on both sides of the aisle for the divisiveness coming from Washington, he said Trump is the “grand master” of the problem. “I’ve never seen such bitterness in this country,” he said. This story has been updated.