WASHINGTON (AP) — A former Republican congressman from Texas It’s Gonna Hurt suspended her presidential bid Monday and endorsed her GOP primary candidate Nikki Haley, officially abandoning a brief campaign. Building on criticism of Donald Trump, his party still seems determined to embrace the former president.
“While I appreciate all the time and energy our supporters have invested, it is important to recognize the realities of the political landscape and the need to unite our party around one person to defeat both Donald Trump and Donald Trump. “President Biden,” Hurt wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Haley, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under Trump and governor of South Carolina, said: “Donald Trump has shown a willingness to present a different vision for the country and an unparalleled understanding of our foreign policy issues.”
When she announced her candidacy in late June, Hurt was the last major candidate to join an already crowded Republican primary field. He dropped out of the race after three months and was unable to assert himself as a pragmatic moderate who had promised to leave the party. Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement. Violated failed to qualify for both the first GOP debate in Milwaukee in August and a second debate next month in Simi Valley, California.
“America is at a crossroads and it’s time to make Joe Biden a one-term president,” Haley wrote on X in response to Hurt’s endorsement. “Thanks @wilhard For your support and trust. There is a country to save!”
Hurt has ended his campaign and is targeting another Republican candidate: Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. The first president hopes to suspend his campaign shortly after losing in the first phase of the debate.
Hurt was not invited to the event in Milwaukee because the Republican National Committee had little support for the election and his campaign did not have enough donors.
Hurt initially protested missing the first debate, arguing that the Republican Party’s refusal to sign pledges for its presidential candidates prevented him from doing so, even if it was Trump. The RNC standards are “arbitrary, vague and inconsistent.” “This is an unacceptable act for the presidential election,” he said in his statement.
When he didn’t attend the second debate, Hurd struck a different tone, writing in X: “We narrowly missed the cut for the second debate and our campaign is at a turning point.”
Hurd, a covert CIA officer who served in Pakistan, served three terms in the House through January 2021 and was the chamber’s only Black Republican in his final two years in office. He represented what was then the most competitive district in Texas, which was heavily Hispanic and stretched from the outskirts of San Antonio to El Paso, more than 800 miles along the Texas-Mexico border.
Hurt decided not to seek re-election in 2020 and said he would pursue opportunities outside of Congress to “address the issues between technology and national security.” Last year, he toured the country to promote his book, “American Reboot: An Idealist’s Guide to Getting Big Things Done.”
The 46-year-old has long been a staunch Trump opponent and encouraged the then-Republican presidential candidate to drop out of the 2016 race. Access to Hollywood tab. Trump’s boasts about sexually assaulting women were made public in the final weeks before Election Day.
Hurd hoped to appeal to voters looking for a pro-business Republican with a strong national security background. He announced his candidacy and criticized both Biden and Trump. He said the president was unprepared to secure the U.S.-Mexico border and combat the fentanyl trade, which has led to overdoses, violent crime and homelessness in the country’s cities.
“President Biden cannot or will not solve these problems,” Hurd said in his announcement video. “And we all know that if we nominate a lawless, self-serving and failed politician like Donald Trump – who lost the House, the Senate and the White House – Joe Biden will win again.”
Hurt has stepped up her public criticism of Trump as the former president faces repeated allegations. Four separate criminal proceedings and a total of 91 charges. Trump still has a fundraising advantage and is leading in early primaries.
As a result, Hurd’s most memorable moments as a White House candidate included booing Republicans who repeatedly insisted that Trump would lose to Biden in the general election if he won the GOP nomination.
“Donald Trump is running to stay out of prison,” Hurd announced at the 1 a.m. Republican dinner in Iowa in July. When he was shouted down, he responded, “Listen, I know the truth is harsh.”
2023-10-10 16:06:52
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