President Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign manager Brad Parscale on Tuesday dismissed reports that former South Carolina governor and congressman Mark Sanford is considering running against Trump in 2020.
Parscale brushed off the possibility of a primary challenger, telling The Wall Street Journal, “Whatever,” in response to Sanford’s possible candidacy as a Republican.
The Hill has reached out to the Trump campaign for further comment about a possible primary challenger.
Parscale’s remarks came shortly after Sanford told South Carolina paper The Post and Courier that he was mulling a 2020 challenge to Trump.{mosads}
“Sometimes in life you’ve got to say what you’ve got to say, whether there’s an audience or not for that message,” said Sanford, who has criticized the president. “I feel convicted.”
Sanford told the paper in an interview published Tuesday that he will use the next month to consider a potential primary challenge against Trump.
His possible long-shot presidential bid comes more than a year after Sanford lost a contentious primary election that was widely viewed as a referendum on his criticism of Trump. The president had urged voters to reject Sanford in the days leading up to the June 2018 primary.
Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld (R) announced in April that he was running against Trump for the Republican nomination, although his campaign has not seen much attention and raised about $700,000 this quarter.
The Trump campaign, meanwhile, announced this week that, along with the Republican National Committee, it has raised $108 million in the second quarter and together the organizations have more than $123 million in cash reserves.