Vermont's Republican governor refuses to support Trump's re-election, endorses challenger

Vermont Republican Gov. Phil Scott announced Saturday that he will not endorse his party's presidential nominee — President Donald Trump — in the 2020 election.

Instead, Scott has endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld.

"I've met with him before, I think a lot of him and his platform so I would be supporting him," Scott said Saturday, WPTZ-TV reported.

In response, Weld thanked Scott for his endorsement.

"I'm a great admirer of @GovPhilScott of Vermont, and am delighted to have his endorsement in the Republican presidential primary on Super Tuesday. VT has been well served in the past by Republican governors, and Gov. Scott admirably extends that tradition," Weld said

Scott now becomes the first sitting Republican governor to publicly oppose Trump's re-election. Indeed, Scott has been vocal about his opposition to the president.

From Politico:

Scott, a frequent critic of Trump, said in January that Trump "abused his powers" and shouldn't be in office after the Senate voted to acquit the president on the two articles of impeachment brought against him by the House for delaying nearly $400 million in aid to Ukraine in an attempt to force the country to announce an investigation of his Democratic political opponents' actions there.

Weld is the only major Republican who has continued to campaign against Trump. Two others — former Reps. Mark Sanford (S.C.) and Joe Walsh (Ill.) — have already folded their campaigns.

Scott's endorsement came just three weeks before the Vermont primary.

As WPTZ noted, Scott identifies with the libertarian-wing of the Republican Party, as does Weld.