Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld announced Friday that he is forming an exploratory committee to run against President Donald Trump for the 2020 Republican presidential nomination. Weld is the first Republican to challenge the president’s reelection bid.
Weld, who was the governor of Massachusetts from 1991 to 1997, also ran in the 2016 presidential election as Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson’s running mate. Weld said in his announcement speech that he could no longer “sit quietly on the sidelines” while Trump is president.
“The truth is that we have wasted an enormous amount of time by humoring this president, indulging him in his narcissism and his compulsive, irrational behaviors,” Weld said. “… We don’t need six more years of the antics we have seen. We need to make a change and install leaders who know that character counts.”
Weld also said he pledged to make a number of reforms as president, which include reducing federal spending, cutting taxes, legalizing medical marijuana and combating climate change. As his address came to a close, he called for national unity.
“There should be no hatred, no intimidation, no name-calling between the various arms of the federal government or between groups of citizens,” Weld said. “Like President Reagan, like President Eisenhower, our leaders in government should seek to unite us and make us all proud to be Americans — and never, ever seek to divide us.”
Michael Dukakis, the 1988 Democratic nominee for president and Weld’s predecessor as governor of Massachusetts, said while he does not think Weld has the support to defeat Trump in the primary election, there is a chance that investigations into the president and his campaign over the next two years could shift the scales in favor of Weld.
However, Dukakis said that Weld’s classic Massachusetts Republican values of economic conservatism and social liberalism do not match the core of the modern Republican Party.
“Where would he fit in the existing Republican representation and the House of Representatives in Washington?” Dukakis said. “Well, he would not be with these guys, he doesn’t buy their stuff. I think that’s a strength for him, but it may not help him in the Republican primary.”
Massachusetts Republican Party chairman Jim Lyons said in press release published Friday that Weld’s previous political track record, which includes endorsing former President Barack Obama over John McCain in the 2008 presidential election and joining the Libertarian party, showed that Weld did not deserve Republicans’ support.
“After abandoning Republicans, Democrats, and Libertarians, Weld demands that faithful Republicans consider him as their standard bearer,” Lyons said. “Even Benedict Arnold switched allegiances less often! We Republicans will put partisanship aside, reach across the aisle to Democrats, and Libertarians, and reject Bill Weld.”
Dukakis said that Weld lacks the popularity of current U.S. Senator from Massachusetts and Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren.
“Those of us like Bill and me who are out of active politics, a lot of people don’t know him, they don’t know me,” Dukakis said. “We were in the office a long time ago, and I like Elizabeth a lot. I supported her when she ran for Senate — she’s a good candidate.”
Victoria Kitele, 28, of Brighton, said she thinks Weld may be able to win the Republican nomination if he can capture the votes of Republicans disenchanted by Trump’s divisive rhetoric and controversial policies.
“Being a Republican is really more than a political party, I would say that it has more to do with values that have to deal with people’s day-to-day lives,” Kitele said.
Brookline resident Angelina Campagna, 26, said she thought Weld might have a chance to defeat Trump because the president’s hold on the Republican party is “slipping.”
“[Trump] hasn’t really followed up with what he said, and he didn’t have the popular vote to begin with,” Campagna said. “[Republicans] want somebody that does what he said he’s going to do.”
Ann Marie Norman, 60, of Brookline, said she remembered that Weld did a good job as governor and that she thinks that Trump has alienated the Republican party over the last several years.
“Everyone’s probably sick of [Trump] by now, he’s driving everyone crazy,” Norman said. “They’re investigating him about the Russians and what he’s doing with the Russian president. And the comments he makes about women and how he treats them, and all the comments he makes, he shouldn’t be doing that on Twitter. He’s not making the presidency look good.”
