Former Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC) announced his campaign against President Donald Trump on Sunday–a day after the Republican Party in his home state cancelled the GOP presidential primary for this election cycle.
During an interview with Fox News host Chris Wallace, Sanford confirmed that he would be challenging Trump in the primaries because “as a Republican party, we have lost our way.”
The former GOP congressman, who was a relatively consistent Trump critic before he lost to his primary challenger in 2018, cited high deficit spending as his motivation to defeat Trump.
“The President has called himself the ‘king of debt,’ [and] has a familiarity and comfort level with debt that I think is ultimately leading us in the wrong direction,” Sanford told Wallace.
When the Fox News host pointed out Sanford’s low chance of actually beating Trump, who’s incredibly popular among his party members, the South Carolina Republican said one of his primary goals is to “create a conversation on that which is not being talked about in this presidential cycle.”
The South Carolina GOP officially voted to eliminate the its presidential primaries on Saturday, effectively paving the way for Trump’s primary victory in the state.
Sanford lost against Rep. Katie Arrington (R-SC) in the 2018 midterms after she repeatedly attacked him for his criticism against Trump, who notably chose to endorse Arrington over Sanford.
Watch Sanford below:
Former Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC) announces his primary campaign against Trump pic.twitter.com/re2kyiHi2B
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) September 8, 2019
