Former President Donald Trump lashed out at former Rep. Will Hurd of Texas after Hurd told Iowans on Friday that Trump is only running for president to stay out of prison.
Hurd, who is running a longshot campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, made the claim during Friday’s Lincoln Dinner in Des Moines, Iowa, where 13 Republican candidates for president spoke.
“In Iowa last night I noticed that a little known, failed former Congressman, Will Hurd, is ridiculously running for President. He quit Congress because it would have been impossible for him to win in his district – he did a really bad job,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Saturday.
“Anyway, he got SERIOUSLY booed off the stage when he said I was running ‘to stay out of jail.’ Wrong, if I wasn’t running, or running and doing badly (like him & Christie!), with no chance to win, these prosecutions would never have been brought or happened!” Trump wrote.
Hurd, who said in 2019 he would not seek another term in Congress, was not repentant, declaring in a social media post on Saturday that GOP presidential contenders need to challenge Trump.
Real leadership is standing up and fighting for what’s right for America. It’s not tiptoeing around Donald Trump. Anyone who idly sits back and doesn’t call him out is only enabling him. https://t.co/GfRTLo9PPL
— Will Hurd (@WillHurd) July 29, 2023
He was even more pointed on Friday.
“Donald Trump is not running for president to make America great again. Donald Trump is not running for president to represent the people that voted for him in 2016 and 2020,” Hurd said at the Lincoln Dinner, according to the Des Moines Register.
“Donald Trump is running to stay out of prison,” he said, with boos emerging from the crowd.
BREAKING: Will Hurd booed off stage in Iowa for saying Trump is only running to stay out of jail pic.twitter.com/maQwgIHBRp
— Jack Poso ?? (@JackPosobiec) July 29, 2023
“I know, I know, I know, I know,” he said next after more booing. Hurd was first elected to Congress in 2014, according to Ballotpedia.
“Listen, I know the truth — the truth is hard. But if we [nominate] Donald Trump, we are willingly giving Joe Biden four more years in the White House, and America can’t handle that,” Hurd said.
During Trump’s Iowa presentation, he said the indictments against him were all politics, according to Politico.
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