Trump Mocks His New 'Badly Failed' 2020 Republican Opponent, Mark Sanford
President Donald Trump on Monday mocked former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, who on Sunday announced he would challenge Trump for the Republican presidential nomination.
Sanford served in Congress from 1995 through 2001 and served as governor of South Carolina from 2003 to 2011.
In 2009, he admitted to an extramarital affair with an Argentinian woman, having told the media he was hiking the Appalachian Trail during several days when he disappeared from public view.
Sanford finished out his term through 2011, and in 2013 was elected to Congress. He lost a 2018 primary for re-election after Trump opposed his candidacy.
All of that was ammo for the president.
“When the former Governor of the Great State of South Carolina, @MarkSanford, was reported missing, only to then say he was away hiking on the Appalachian Trail, then was found in Argentina with his Flaming Dancer friend, it sounded like his political career was over. It was, but then he ran for Congress and won, only to lose his re-elect after I Tweeted my endorsement, on Election Day, for his opponent,” Trump tweeted.
“But now take heart, he is back, and running for President of the United States. The Three Stooges, all badly failed candidates, will give it a go!” he continued, jabbing former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld and former Rep. Joe Walsh of Illinois in the process.
…but then he ran for Congress and won, only to lose his re-elect after I Tweeted my endorsement, on Election Day, for his opponent. But now take heart, he is back, and running for President of the United States. The Three Stooges, all badly failed candidates, will give it a go!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 9, 2019
Sanford said in July that he was considering challenging Trump.
“Sometimes in life you’ve got to say what you’ve got to say, whether there’s an audience or not for that message. I feel convicted,” he said then.
Sanford later noted he doubted he would defeat Trump. Others agreed.
“The last time Mark Sanford had an idea this dumb, it killed his Governorship. This makes about as much sense as that trip up the Appalachian trail,” South Carolina Republican Chairman Drew McKissick said in a statement to The Post and Courier of Charleston.
However, on Sunday, Sanford painted his campaign as a vital moment for the cause of conservatism.
“I think we have to have a conversation about what it means to be a Republican,” Sanford said while announcing his candidacy on Fox News’ “Fox News Sunday.” He said the party “has lost our way.”
Sanford also opened his campaign with a shot at the president, saying Trump had damaged America’s political culture.
“We need to have a conversation about humility,” he said, adding that tweeting “is not leadership.”
We have a storm coming that we are neither talking about nor preparing for given that we, as a country, are more financially vulnerable than we have ever been since our Nation’s start and the Civil War. We are on a collision course with financial reality. We need to act now.
— Mark Sanford (@MarkSanford) September 8, 2019
Sanford also told CNN that the presence off three challengers to the president is a significant boost to the anti-Trump movement.
“I think it strengthens it. What the administration is basically said — what the Trump campaign has said is: It was just Bill Weld for a while, it’s a voice crying in the wilderness, it’s — pay it no attention. All of a sudden, when you end up with three candidates and three different candidates saying there’s something wrong with this presidency, what’s going on here is not consistent with the Republican Party that we know about, believe in and invested major portions of our life in, that’s a different conversation,” he said.
Many on Twitter joined Trump in mocking Sanford.
Mark Sanford “lost his way” hiking the Appalachian Trail. He was so lost he ended up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with a woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair.
Thing about Donald Trump. He never pretended to be something he’s not. That goes a long way w/ Americans.
— Richard Baris (@Peoples_Pundit) September 9, 2019
Yeah…a man who abandoned his job as Governor of South Carolina to off to Argentina to be with his mistress wants to be President… @MarkSanford is the exact type of corrupt politician that is lampooned all the time…I cannot believe the people of South Carolina voted this guy https://t.co/1C9WZ2KjZs
— Tony Shaffer (@T_S_P_O_O_K_Y) September 9, 2019
Weld declared he was challenging Trump in April, while Walsh announced his presidential run in August.
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