Republican Congressman Justin Amash said Tuesday that he wouldn't rule out challenging President Donald Trump as a third party candidate in the 2020 election.
The Hill reported that prominent Libertarians have been attempting to recruit Amash since he garnered attention as the first Republican to publicly support impeachment hearings against the president in light of the Mueller report.
When asked directly by The Hill whether he was considering running, Amash said it he been thinking about it, but he hadn't taken it off the table either.
“I’m just focused on defending the constitution, it’s not something I’ve thought about,” Amash said. “I don’t take things off the table like that, but it’s not something at the forefront of my considerations right now, I’m just focused on my job. I wouldn’t take running for governor off the table or Senate or state house, I don’t take things off the table.”
Were Amash to run, it could have significant implications in his home state of Michigan, which Donald trump held by only 11,000 votes in the 2016 election.
“There are a lot of Libertarian Party members actively encouraging Rep. Amash to switch parties and seek the Libertarian nomination,” Nicholas Sarwark, the chairman of the Libertarian National Committee, told the Hill “This is probably the most organised recruitment effort I’ve seen going back to 2012 when people were trying to recruit Ron Paul.”
President Trump and other Republican leaders have taken aim at Amash lately.
In a Tweet Trump called the congressman "a total lightweight who opposes me and some of our great Republican ideas and policies." In another Tweet, the president called him "a loser who sadly plays right into our opponents hands!"
Amash, the son of Palestinian and Syrian immigrants has clashed with Trump on a variety of issues including the president's Travel Ban, which targeted middle eastern countries, as well as the border wall. He has expressed frustration with the Republican party as well, and criticised the state of what he's called the "Two-party Duopoly."
The only challenger to Donald Trump on the right at the moment is former Massachusetts governor William Weld. However, Weld has seen little public support from other "never Trump" Republicans.
