- The Washington Times - Saturday, May 16, 2020

Rep. Justin Amash on Saturday said he will not mount a run for president this year on the Libertarian Party ticket after he had spent the last few weeks weighing whether to make a play for the party’s 2020 nomination.

“After much reflection, I’ve concluded that circumstances don’t lend themselves to my success as a candidate for president this year, and therefore I will not be a candidate,” Mr. Amash said on Twitter.

Mr. Amash was elected to the House during the 2010 Tea Party wave as a Republican, but he quit the GOP on July 4 last year and became an independent.

The congressman has said the GOP lost its way in recent years on traditionally Republican issues like government spending and adherence to the Constitution in favor of deference to President Trump.

He said social distancing rules amid the coronavirus pandemic can make it harder for lesser-known candidates to make their case.

“Polarization is near an all-time high,” he said. “Electoral success requires an audience willing to consider alternatives, but both social media and traditional media are dominated by voices strongly averse to the political risks posed by a viable third candidate.”

Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans had slammed Mr. Amash for dipping his toes in the water, saying his candidacy would only serve to boost Mr. Trump’s re-election chances.

Mr. Amash said he wants to make the Libertarian Party successful, but that he had lingering concerns about ballot access and unity after the nomination.

The Trump campaign has done its best to ignore Mr. Amash in recent weeks, though Mr. Trump tweaked his potential bid late last month.

“I think Amash would make a wonderful candidate, especially since he is way behind in his district and has no chance of maintaining his Congressional seat,” the president said on Twitter.

Mr. Amash had joined Democrats in December to vote to impeach Mr. Trump on counts of abuse of power and obstruction of justice over the president’s allegedly strong-arming Ukraine into digging up political dirt on Joseph R. Biden, now the likely Democratic presidential nominee.

• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.

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