Donald Trump has a 2020 republican primary problem after all
While Donald Trump is busy ridiculing the remaining contenders for the Democratic nomination for president, one of his Republican rivals got a preliminary boost before the Super Tuesday contests. Bill Weld, the former governor of Massachusetts and the only remaining competition Trump has left vying for the Republican presidential nomination was recently endorsed for president by Phil Scott, the governor of Vermont. It’s the first endorsement Weld’s campaign received from a sitting Republican governor.
This should come as no surprise to anyone who’s familiar with Scott. He called for Trump’s impeachment and removal and has spoken out against the administration’s more draconian policies in the past. It also won’t give him much better odds of winning the nomination over Donald Trump, since winning the primary over an incumbent president would be difficult to do even without the state Republican organizations changing their rules in Trump’s favor, guaranteeing him an easy path to the nomination without a whole lot of infighting.
What this endorsement will probably do is give Trump something else to complain about. Weld thanked Scott for the endorsement on Twitter and praised him in return. Being the narcissist he is, Trump can’t help himself and we’ll likely see him going after Weld in the not too distant future, particularly if Weld does manage to snag a few delegates for himself following Super Tuesday.
He’s almost certainly been counseled by his advisors to not go after fellow Republicans, even the ones living in states that his administration’s policies have been hostile towards, but being the narcissist Trump is, and the nature of statements Weld has already made publicly, the attacks are bound to come. Expect things to get worse if other prominent blue state Republicans continue to back Weld’s candidacy.
James Sullivan is the assistant editor of Brain World Magazine and an advocate of science-based policy making