Former Congressman of the US state of Texas, Will Hurd, on Thursday (June 22) announced that he is running for the upcoming presidential elections. Hurd, a Republican and one-time Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer has been a fierce critic of Donald Trump.
As per media reports, Hurd would also become the first Texan with experience in elective office to enter the Republican primary and is hoping to be a more moderate alternative to the Republican primary field’s early front-runner.
Hurd announces his White House bid
The Texas lawmaker made the announcement on CBS Mornings where he made an appearance and said, “This morning I filed to be Republican nominee for president of the United States.” The 45-year-old, who was the first elected to serve Texas’s 23rd Congressional District in 2014 has now entered the US presidential race with 11 other Republican candidates.
During the interview with CBS, Hurd said that he decided to run after he and his wife realised that “we live in complicated times.” The Texas Republican also said issues related to education with low scores in maths, science and reading for students were also a factor in his decision, reported CBS.
In a video announcing his bid for the White House, Hurd said, “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.”
He added, “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.”
Notably, while Hurd is a critic of Trump, he is also not a fan of Biden, earlier this year, in an interview, he said that another election with the former and incumbent US presidents would be “the rematch from hell”.
Unlike most people from his party, Hurd joins former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson in his willingness to criticise Trump.
The former president continues to be a popular figure among GOP voters with the latest poll by CBS showing that he leads the crowded field of 11 with 62 per cent support among likely Republican primary voters.
Speaking about his other 2024 Republican contenders, during the interview, Hurd also said, “I’m not satisfied with the field as it stands right now. No one is taking on Trump effectively, or presenting a vision for the future.” Furthermore, the former Texas lawmaker also said that he believes the “Republican Party can be the party that talks about the future, not the past.”
Will Hurd: From politician, CIA officer to the White House?
The 45-year-old was the first elected to serve Texas’s 23rd Congressional District nearly a decade ago. He represented the state of Texas in Congress between 2015 and 2021, becoming the chamber’s only Black Republican during his final two years in office. Born and raised in San Antonio Texas, Hurd is a child of a White mother and a Black father.
Hurd graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in computer science in 2000 after which he immediately joined the US intelligence agency CIA. Hurd reportedly served as an undercover CIA officer in the Middle East and South Asia as well as on the House Intelligence Committee.
The self-described “dark horse” candidate has been viewed as a moderate on a number of issues. In 2017, he voted against a Republican-led effort to repeal the nation’s health care law, enacted under former US President Barack Obama.
He was also the only Republican in the House from a border district and called the southern “border crisis” a “myth,” while opposing Trump’s border wall and supporting citizenship for young undocumented immigrants under the DREAMers programme.
In 2020, Hurd chose not to seek reelection to the House to “pursue opportunities outside the halls of Congress to solve problems at the nexus between technology and national security.” Notably, most of Hurd’s career has been focused on cybersecurity issues.
However, in 2019, he was reportedly removed as a keynote speaker at a cybersecurity conference because of his past support for Republican-led legislation on abortion restrictions and a bill which would provide financial support for women wanting to pursue science, technology, engineering and maths fields.
Aside from Trump the other Republicans who have announced their bid for the White House include – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, Senator Tim Scott (South Carolina), former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Indian-American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, radio host Larry Elder and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez.
(With inputs from agencies)
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