Former GOP Rep. Will Hurd went after fellow Republican presidential candidates “afraid to talk” about Donald Trump, claiming that they’re “not ready to be president of the United States.”
The long-shot 2024 candidate called out his Republican rivals on “Meet the Press” after he drew boos and jeers campaigning in Iowa with the claim that Trump was running for president again “to stay out of prison.”
Hurd told host Chuck Todd that he expected the crowd’s reaction.
“I knew there were going to be people that didn’t like it, but what I didn’t expect was there were a lot of people that actually clapped,” he said. “And then there were more people that just sat there politely and probably understand and knew what I was saying was the truth.”
Trump, who last week was slapped with additional charges in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into his handling of classified documents, mocked Hurd on social media for getting “SERIOUSLY booed off the stage” in Iowa.
Hurd on Sunday explained more about why he attacked fellow candidates who are “afraid to talk” Trump.
“My goal was not to go in there and talk to the people that have been frustrated when they’re told that the person that they respect has been lying to them,” he said. “I was there to talk to the people that believe in personal responsibility, that believe character matters, that believe service matters, that believe that the United States has a role in the world and it’s important to us back here at home.”
He continued: “Those were the people that I was going to speak to, and also to prove to the rest of the field that we’re running for an election, and if you’re afraid to talk about Donald Trump or talk about his baggage, then you’re not ready to be president of the United States.”
Other GOP candidates mostly avoided direct digs at the former president at the Iowa event.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who didn’t attend the Iowa event and hasn’t been campaigning in the state, has been a fierce Trump critic.