Joining the growing list of candidates striving to secure the Republican Party nomination, Will Hurd, a former Texas Congressman and fierce critic of Donald Trump, announced on Thursday, June 22, 2023, that he is running for President.
Making the announcement on an early morning show, Hurd declared, “We need common sense,” adding, “I believe the Republican Party can be the party of the future, not the past.”
Reminiscent of Democrat Joe Biden’s slogan about the 2020 race being a “battle for the soul of the nation,” Hurd, in a campaign video said that the “soul of our country is under attack.”
“Our enemies plot, create chaos, and threaten the American Dream. At home, illegal immigration and fentanyl stream into our country. Inflation, still out of control. Crime and homelessness growing in our cities.”
“President Biden can’t solve these problems — or won’t. And if we nominate a lawless, selfish, failed politician like Donald Trump; who lost the House, the Senate, and the White House, we all know Joe Biden will win again.”
Will Hurd
On Thursday, the former Texas Congressman called himself a “dark horse candidate” and said that the only way to win is to “not be afraid of Donald Trump” and that “we also have to articulate a different vision.”
With his announcement, Hurd joins Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, anti-woke activist Vivek Ramaswamy, radio host Larry Elder and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, as well as former President Donald Trump in the contest for party nomination.
However, Trump’s recent indictment on federal felony charges for mishandling classified documents could potentially open the way for his competitors to gain traction in the primary.
Unacceptable For Trump To Keep Classified Documents While Seeking Leadership
Hurd stated on Thursday that he would not pardon Trump if the former President is convicted in the federal documents case, and he called many of the other Republican White House candidates who rushed to say they would do so “insane” to make that promise so early in the case.
Hurd opined that the classification of the documents Trump is accused of mishandling meant they included “information that, if it got into the wrong hands, would lead to a loss of life.”
“And the fact that Donald Trump willingly kept that material, and he wants to be leader of the free world, is unacceptable to me,” Hurd disclosed at the early morning show.
“It spits in the face of the thousands of men and women who, every single day and every single night, put themselves in harm’s way in order to keep us safe.”
Will Hurd
Although he joins the crowded Republican primary with little national profile, Hurd built a reputation in Congress as pro-business, pragmatic and unafraid to seek bipartisan consensus.
Hurd, 45, served three terms in the House of Representatives through January 2021, becoming the chamber’s only Black Republican during his final two years in office.
Hurd opted not to seek reelection to the House in 2020, saying then that he preferred to “pursue opportunities outside the halls of Congress to solve problems at the nexus between technology and national security.”
Last year, he traveled the country on a tour to promote his book, “American Reboot: An Idealist’s Guide to Getting Big Things Done.”
Before serving in Congress, Hurd was a clandestine officer who worked in Pakistan. He speaks Urdu, Pakistan’s national language.
