--- title: Vermont's GOP Gov. Scott Endorses Trump Challenger Bill Weld description: Vermont's Republican Government Phil Scott endorsed former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld, President Donald Trump's primary challenger. canonical: https://time.com/5785236/phil-scott-bill-wild-endorse-donald-trump/ author: Madeleine Carlisle article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-02-17T15:42:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T08:15:40.895Z article:section: Politics og:title: Vermont's Republican Governor Endorses Trump's Primary Challenger og:description: Gov. Phil Scott endorsed former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld, saying 'I think a lot of him.' og:url: https://time.com/5785236/phil-scott-bill-wild-endorse-donald-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e3de1247b52631c/698a0a56db2987e4c3264f53/phil-scott-bill-wild-endorse-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Presidential Candidates Visit Polling Locations On Primary Day In New Hampshire og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Vermont's Republican Governor Endorses Trump's Primary Challenger twitter:description: Gov. Phil Scott endorsed former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld, saying 'I think a lot of him.' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e3de1247b52631c/698a0a56db2987e4c3264f53/phil-scott-bill-wild-endorse-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Vermont's Republican Governor Endorses Trump's Primary Challenger Bill Weld  by [Madeleine Carlisle](https://time.com/author/madeleine-carlisle/)  ## Madeleine Carlisle Feb 17, 2020 3:42 PM UTC  Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld waves to voters at the Webster Elementary School during the presidential primary on Feb. 11, 2020 in Manchester, New Hampshire. Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld waves to voters at the Webster Elementary School during the presidential primary on Feb. 11, 2020 in Manchester, New Hampshire.Scott Eisen—Getty Images  by [Madeleine Carlisle](https://time.com/author/madeleine-carlisle/)  ## Madeleine Carlisle Feb 17, 2020 3:42 PM UTC On Saturday, Vermont’s Republican Governor Phil Scott endorsed former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld — President Donald Trump’s sole presidential GOP [primary challenger](https://time.com/5682760/incumbent-presidents-primary-challenges/) — ahead of the state’s March 3rd primary on Super Tuesday. “I’ve met with \[Weld\] before, I think a lot of him and his platform so I would be supporting him,” Scott [said](https://www.mynbc5.com/article/gov-scott-gives-endorsement-in-presidential-race/30938671) at a press conference first reported on by Vermont’s [WPTZ](https://www.mynbc5.com/article/gov-scott-gives-endorsement-in-presidential-race/30938671) and [WCAX](https://www.wcax.com/content/news/Vt-Gov-Scott-supports-Weld-for-President--567915041.html). Scott has served as Vermont’s governor since 2017 and been a frequent critic of the President. On Feb. 7, after the Senate acquitted Trump of two articles of impeachment, Scott said the President abuses his power and shouldn’t be in office. Weld has repeatedly spoken out against Trump since the 2016 election; he’s called him a “[raging racist](https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/25/politics/bill-weld-donald-trump-raging-racist-naacp/index.html),” [compared](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/20/us/politics/libertarian-party-trump.html) his deportation plans to the Nazi’s Kristallnacht and [supported](https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/11/07/bill-weld-ive-seen-enough-time-for-trump-to-go/) his impeachment. Weld is the only Republican running against Trump, after former South Carolina Rep. Mark Sanford and former Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh dropped out of the race [on Nov. 12](https://www.postandcourier.com/politics/former-sc-gov-mark-sanford-has-dropped-out-of-presidential/article%5F3def9eee-0171-11ea-84ec-8bd313d6fd8a.html) and [Feb. 7](https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/07/politics/joe-walsh-ends-campaign/index.html), respectively. He was the vice president on former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson’s libertarian ticket i[n the 2016 election](https://time.com/4518881/bill-weld-libertarian-donald-trump/). Weld thanked Scott on Twitter shortly after the news broke. “I’m a great admirer of [@GovPhilScott](https://twitter.com/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,” he wrote. > [](https://twitter.com/GovBillWeld/status/1228712068527861761) Weld has also been [endorsed](https://www.christiewhitman.com/all/weld-collects-endorsements-in-presidential-campaign) by former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman and at least five former Republican representatives, [according to the _Boston Globe_.](https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2020/02/10/bill-weld-endorsements) So far, Weld has [secured](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-primary-elections/delegate-count) one delegate to Trump’s 61. On March 3rd fifteen states and American territories will hold their presidential primary nominating contests. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5785236/phil-scott-bill-wild-endorse-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5785236/phil-scott-bill-wild-endorse-donald-trump/"},"headline":"Vermont's Republican Governor Endorses Trump's Primary Challenger Bill Weld","datePublished":"2020-02-17T15:42:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T08:15:40.895Z","description":"Vermont's Republican Government Phil Scott endorsed former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld, President Donald Trump's primary challenger","url":"https://time.com/5785236/phil-scott-bill-wild-endorse-donald-trump/","keywords":["2020 Presidential Election","politics","Vermont","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e3de1247b52631c/698a0a56db2987e4c3264f53/phil-scott-bill-wild-endorse-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Madeleine Carlisle","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/madeleine-carlisle/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7e3de1247b52631c/698a0a56db2987e4c3264f53/phil-scott-bill-wild-endorse-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Presidential Candidates Visit Polling Locations On Primary Day In New Hampshire","caption":"Presidential Candidates Visit Polling Locations On Primary Day In New Hampshire","creditText":"Scott Eisen—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2020-presidential-election/","name":"2020 Presidential Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5785236/phil-scott-bill-wild-endorse-donald-trump/","name":"Vermont's Republican Governor Endorses Trump's Primary Challenger Bill Weld"}}]}] ```