Former Texas Republican Rep. Will Hurd joined “Meet the Press NOW” on Tuesday to talk about his 2024 presidential bid.
While he brushed aside his place at the bottom of GOP presidential polling, arguing that “this is not about peaking on Week 3, it’s about peaking before the first election,” he did acknowledge that the clock is ticking for the candidates in the race (like him) who want the party to move on from Trump.
“If you don’t have pathway to victory by the late winter, then you need to think about consolidating, and I think that guidance is sound,” Hurd said of advice New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu gave to the anti-Trump candidates.
“That’s five or six months away, which is enough time to start lighting [a] fire,” he added, before noting polling showing public unease about a rematch between Trump and Biden.
What else did we learn from Hurd?
- He isn’t changing his tune on not signing the GOP’s loyalty pledge: “I can’t lie to get access to a microphone, I’m not going to support Donald Trump.”
- His opposition to Trump stems from what Hurd has seen as Trump’s negative impact on GOP electoral success, but also because “I don’t agree with his temper and how he conducts things.”
- He said NATO should have announced that Ukraine will join it “as soon as the fighting stops.”
- He reluctantly backed Biden’s decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine to help “kick the Russians out of their own country.”
- And he dodged a question about the Iowa GOP’s push for a six-week abortion ban, saying he prefers a 15-week ban.
Watch the entire interview here.
In other campaign news…
“Not a No. 2 guy”: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told the “Wisconsin Right Now” radio show that he would not be Trump’s running mate in 2024 if he was asked to be, saying “I don’t think so. I’m not a No. 2 guy.”
Trump speaks out on Ukraine: The former president condemned a decision by President Biden to send cluster munitions to Ukraine, claiming in a statement that the decision could “[drag] us further to World War III.”
Clean sweep: Trump has earned endorsements from each Republican member of Michigan’s congressional delegation, including Reps. Jack Bergman, Bill Huizenga, John James, Lisa McClain, John Moolenaar and Tim Walberg, Fox News reports.
GOP donor scramble: Republican presidential candidates are scrambling to meet the requirements to make sure they earn a spot on the debate stage, resorting to unconventional tactics to ensure they have support from at least 40,000 individual donors, the Washington Post reports.
On the airwaves: SOS America PAC, a group backing GOP Miami Mayor Francis Suarez’ presidential bid, reserved $220,000 worth of time on the airwaves in Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, California and Texas, according to AdImpact, an ad tracking firm.
No Labels: The bipartisan group No Labels is hosting a town hall in New Hampshire next week with West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin and former Utah Gov. John Huntsman amid the group’s flirtations with a 2024 presidential bid.
No, No Labels: Former House Democratic leader Richard A. Gephardt plans to launch a group opposing a potential No Labels bid to run a third-party ticket in the general election, the Washington Post reports. Several aides and consultants who have joined the effort say a No Labels ticket would pull votes away from Biden and hand Trump a victory, if the general election is a rematch.
Second quarter wrap up: West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice raised almost $1 million in the second quarter of this year in his bid to unseat Sen. Manchin in 2024, his campaign announced Wednesday. Manchin hasn’t yet announced whether he’ll seek re-election, but Justice faces GOP Rep. Alex Mooney in a Republican primary.
Comeback kid? Politico reports that former Republican Rep. Mayra Flores is launching a campaign to take back the South Texas district she held for a few short months after a 2022 special election, before Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez flipped the seat back in November’s midterm elections.
