Rep. Justin Amash believes his White House bid is bad for both President Trump and his Democratic challenger, the Michigan Libertarian indicated in a recent interview.
Mr. Amash, a former Republican who left the GOP last year, told Time that he expects his presence in the presidential race will not help either of the two major-party nominees.
“I think it hurts both candidates,” Mr. Amash told the magazine. “The goal is to win, so you obviously want to take votes from both candidates. There’s a huge pool of voters who aren’t represented by either of the parties, and a lot of times, they just stay home or they settle for one of the two parties, but they would be happy to vote for someone else if they felt there was another candidate that was compelling.”
Mr. Amash announced late last month he will seek the Libertarian Party’s nomination to run against Mr. Trump in November, setting the stage for a third-party candidate to potentially disrupt the race by pulling votes from disenchanted Republicans and Democrats who might otherwise cast ballots for their respective party’s nominee.
“Donald Trump and Joe Biden are extremely weak candidates,” Mr. Amash told Time. “I think millions of Americans are not satisfied with these choices, and people deserve to have another option on the ballot.”
Mr. Amash, 40, has represented Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District on Capitol Hill since 2011, winning five consecutive races while running as a Republican. He left the GOP in July, and last week he officially became the first member of the Libertarian Party to serve in Congress.
