Boston Globe endorses Trump’s GOP challenger Bill Weld

The Boston Globe Editorial Board on Wednesday endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld’s long-shot primary challenge to President Trump.

“Although sometimes dismissed as a gadfly because of his Libertarian Party vice presidential bid in 2016, Weld is a solid, substantive, hyper-smart figure. As governor of Massachusetts from 1991 to 1997, he demonstrated an ability to work with an overwhelmingly Democratic legislature to produce impressive results,” the Globe said.

“Nominating Weld would also help restore dignity and decency to the national conversation. A personable practitioner of collegial politics, he is able to disagree without being disagreeable. His dry, sly wit would be a welcome tonic to Trump’s tawdry discourse,” the Globe added. “A ballot for Weld, then, is a vote both to salvage time-honored conservative principles and to change the shabby tone of the Trump era.”

The newspaper also cited Weld’s experience as a prosecutor, his handling of budgetary issues as governor and his status as “neither a neoconservative nor a neo-isolationist on foreign policy.”

The Globe acknowledged the minimal likelihood of Weld’s challenge proving successful, noting his pulling only 9 percent of the vote in the New Hampshire primary and Trump’s overwhelming popularity within the party.

“But even by giving Bill Weld a strong result, Republicans dismayed with Donald Trump’s course could trigger an important intra-party debate about ideas and integrity,” the endorsement stated. “We urge Republicans to embrace his candidacy in the March 3 primary.”

Two former congressmen who sought to primary Trump, former Reps. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) and Joe Walsh (R-Ill.), have already ended their campaigns.