Turns out Donald Trump has a 2020 Republican primary problem after all

Donald Trump has more to worry about in 2020 than the spate of strong Democrats who are running against him. He’s facing multiple Republican primary challengers, and whether they have a chance of defeating him or not, the mere existence of a high-profile primary challenge has often led to a general election defeat for the incumbent.

That’s part of why Donald Trump has been working so hard to rig the 2020 Republican presidential primary race in his favor. Among his Republican challengers are far-right former House Republican Joe Walsh, and moderate former Governor Bill Weld, both of whom have taken bold anti-Trump stances. Trump has worked with state-level Republican entities to try to cancel certain primaries altogether – but that’s not working out for him.

North Carolina election supervisors decided today that Weld and Walsh are both viable candidates, and that they will both be listed as candidates on the ballot when the state holds its 2020 Republican presidential primary voting. This is a major victory for them both. Trump is trying to keep Walsh and Weld out of sight and out of mind, but they’re clearly not willing to roll over and let him rig the Republican primary race in his own favor.

Joe Walsh tweeted this in response: “Just unanimously confirmed to NC Republican Presidential ballot as nationally recognized viable candidate by
N.C. State Board of Elections, reversing yet another attempt to fix the primaries by Donald Trump and state party bosses. Why does Trump fear free and fair elections?”