Mark Sanford in Interviews during 2017-2019
On Principles & Values:
All states should hold primaries, not just re-nominate Trump
The three of us [SC Gov. Mark Sanford, IL Rep. Joe Walsh, and MA Gov. Bill Weld] are running for the Republican nomination for president. Today the Republican Party has taken a wrong turn, led by a serial self-promoter who has abandoned the bedrock
principles of the GOP. Our political system assumes an incumbent president will make his case in front of voters to prove that he or she deserves to be nominated for a second term. But now, the Republican parties of four states--AZ, KS, NV, and SC--have
canceled their nominating contests. By this design, the incumbent will be crowned winner of these states' primary delegates.It would be a critical mistake to allow the Democratic Party to dominate the national conversation during primary and caucus
season. In the United States, citizens choose their leaders. The primary nomination process is the only opportunity for Republicans to have a voice in deciding who will represent our party. Let those voices be heard.
Source: Washington Post on 2020 presidential hopefuls
Sep 13, 2019
On Budget & Economy:
Debt & deficit numbers bode trouble for future
It is a project on behalf of my four sons. Because the route that we're going right now not only has implications, in terms of the Republican Party, going forward, but real implications, in terms of every young person's ability to sustain the
American dream. If you look at the debt and deficit numbers right now, we are in troubling waters that have not only implications, in terms of the economy here and now and what's going to happen next, but frankly, their ability to build wealth over time.
Source: Meet the Press interview for 2020 Presidential hopefuls
Aug 18, 2019
On Free Trade:
Investment cratering; no one knows what's coming next
If you look at the business investment numbers over the last couple of months, they've been cratering. The reason they're cratering is nobody knows what's going to come next, in terms of trade. And nobody knows what's going to come next out of the White
House, in terms of policy. That is not the kind of environment where businesses invest. There are any number of different things where you'd say, "No. We need a course correction." And we need to have a conversation about that course correction.
Source: Meet the Press interview for 2020 Presidential hopefuls
Aug 18, 2019
On Principles & Values:
Comeback to Congress in 2012; lost in GOP primary in 2018
Sanford mounted a successful political comeback and won his old congressional seat back in 2013. But his tenure in the House was ended by a primary challenge in 2018 that was backed by a Trump Twitter storm owing to the president's resentment of
Sanford's criticism. Sanford now sees 2020 to be "payback time."The conceit of his candidacy is that Sanford's conservative credentials and favorite-son status in South Carolina could make the contest in that crucial early primary state competitive.
Source: National Review on 2020 presidential hopefuls
Jul 18, 2019
On Budget & Economy:
Republican Party has lost its way on debt & spending
Almost a year after President Donald Trump urged voters to reject Mark Sanford, the former South Carolina congressman is considering a Republican presidential run of his own against Trump in 2020. Sanford, in an interview with The Post and Courier,
confirmed he will take the next month to formulate a potential run against Trump as a way of pushing a national debate about America's mounting debt, deficit and government spending. He would run as a Republican."Sometimes in life you've
got to say what you've got to say, whether there's an audience or not for that message," Sanford said. "I feel convicted."
Since leaving office in January, Sanford said he has been privately mulling whether to run for the nation's highest office.
He described the internal debate as a drumbeat that never went away. "I'm a Republican. I think the Republican Party has lost its way on debt, spending and financial matters," he said.
Source: Charleston Post and Courier on 2020 presidential hopefuls
Jul 16, 2019
On Homeland Security:
Biggest national security threat is debt and deficit
Sanford said he was considering a run for the presidency because he believes "we're walking away toward the most predictable financial crisis in the history of man.""There is no discussion of debt, deficit and government spending these days," he
said. "I've watched two Democratic presidential debates and there's been zero discussion on both of them as to this issue. The President said we're not going to touch the very things that drive debt and spending. So I think that we're walking away into
one heck of a financial storm, and there's no discussion, and yet presidential years have historically been the year in which we do discuss these things."
Sanford says America will spend more on interest than on its national defense bill in just three
years. When national security issues are discussed, Sanford says, what's left out of the discussion is a prediction of Adm. Mike Millen, former chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, who called the debt and deficit as the biggest security threat.
Source: MSN.com coverage of 2020 presidential hopefuls
Jul 16, 2019
On Principles & Values:
Trump's payoff to porn star "deeply troubling"
Rep. Mark Sanford was one of the few Republican lawmakers to address Trump's alleged affair with porn star Stormy Daniels, calling the situation "deeply troubling." Sanford,
who admitted to having an extramarital affair in 2009, suggested that there would be "hearings" into the matter if it happened under a Democratic president. "What you can't do is be completely silent on something that is troubling," Sanford said.
Source: The Daily Beast blog for 2020 presidential hopefuls
Mar 7, 2018
On Budget & Economy:
Shouldn't trade increased spending for tax reform
We can't abandon what we believe in to get what we want. Many of us want tax reform, but does financial discipline have to be sacrificed on the altar to getting there? I thought
Republicans were the party of lower taxes--and less spending. We may certainly defer or delay things we believe in getting to things we want, but there is a point beyond which deferral becomes inaction.
Source: Medium.com for 2020 presidential hopefuls
Nov 1, 2017
On Government Reform:
Trump not releasing returns hurts democracy's transparency
Rep. Mark Sanford is urging his party's presidential nominee to release his income-tax returns. In a New York Times op-ed, Sanford blasts Trump's "obstinacy." "Not releasing his tax returns would hurt transparency in our democratic process, and
particularly in how voters evaluate the men and women vying to be our leaders," Sanford writes. Sanford warned that the tradition of presidential nominees disclosing tax returns could be permanently "broken," and said voters deserve transparency.
Source: The Daily Beast blog for 2020 presidential hopefuls
Aug 15, 2016
Page last updated: Nov 01, 2021