Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford announced Sunday that he would be challenging President Donald Trump for the 2020 Republican presidential nomination.
Sanford made the announcement — which he said was delayed by Hurricane Dorian — during a segment of “Fox News Sunday” with host Chris Wallace. (RELATED: ‘Three Stooges Running Against Me’: Trump Takes Aim At Primary Opponents)
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Wallace began the segment with the big question, noting that even Sanford had acknowledged that a challenge to President Trump would be a David vs. Goliath situation.
“You announced in July that you are considering running for president in the Republican primaries against Donald Trump. He visited early voting states like New Hampshire and Iowa. Have you made a decision? Are you going to enter the race against Donald Trump?” Wallace asked.
“I have. I planned to announce that back home this week,” Sanford began. “We had a hurricane come visit us on the coast of South Carolina so that sort of disrupted plans, but I am telling you now I am going to get in.”
“You’re going to run for president against Donald Trump in the primaries?” Wallace asked again.
“I am,” Sanford confirmed.
Wallace appeared taken aback. “Why?” he asked.
“Because I think we need to have a conversation about what it means to be a Republican,” Sanford explained. “I think as a Republican Party we have lost our way.”
And Sanford’s uphill battle will begin at home — his home state of South Carolina has voted to skip the 2020 Republican primary altogether, effectively throwing support behind President Trump.
Republican National Committee spokesman Steve Guest told the Daily Caller that attempts to derail the Trump campaign would be futile.
“President Trump enjoys unprecedented support among Republicans. He has already delivered a long list of incredible accomplishments for conservatives and the country. The RNC and the Republican Party are firmly behind the president, and any effort to challenge him in a primary is bound to go absolutely nowhere,” Guest said.
Sanford joins former Republican Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld and former Republican Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh in the 2020 Republican primary effort to unseat President Trump.