Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld laid out a primaryplan that runs through New England, the mid-Atlantic region and the West Coast. | Charles Krupa/AP Photo 2020 elections Weld lays out GOP primary map for defeating Trump

Former Massachusetts Gov. BIll Weld said he‘ll be directing his campaign toward open primary states where he expects to win crossover votes from Democrats intent on casting a vote against President Donald Trump before the general election in November.

“I’ll be focusing on the 20 states that permit crossover voting. It’s not just Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, it’s 17 other states,“ Weld said in an interview with C-SPAN's Newsmakers program, which is scheduled to air Friday. “And a lot of those states permit even a Democrat to take a Republican ballot and I’ve heard from Democrats that they’re going to come and vote in the Republican primary for one day so that they can vote for me against Mr. Trump. And then they’re going to go home and take a hot shower because they feel so unclean. But those are votes as well."


The former two-term GOP governor, who’s waging a longshot primary campaign against Trump, laid out a path to the 2020 Republican presidential nomination that runs through New England, the mid-Atlantic region and the West Coast.

"The geographic path in case you’re interested would be the six New England states and then down into the mid-Atlantic states where I’m a native, actually, of New York," Weld said, ticking off New York, Pennsylvania, and Delaware as three more states he saw as favorable to his candidacy.

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Weld also argued that West Coast states would be receptive to his candidacy against Trump, who lost California, Oregon and Washington by wide margins in 2016.

"A Republican would probably have a terrible time in California in the general election against a Democrat. It’s quite a blue state. But in the primary against Mr. Trump, I think my politics lines up more closely with California politics than Mr. Trump does," said Weld, who ran as Gary Johnson's vice presidential nominee on Libertarian Party ticket in 2016.

Trump, who maintains high approval ratings among Republican voters, is the heavy favorite to win his party's nomination in 2020.

While Weld is the only announced candidate running against Trump in the Republican primary, Maryland GOP Gov. Larry Hogan and former Ohio GOP Gov. John Kasich have drawn mention as potential challengers. In the C-SPAN interview, Weld said he talked with Hogan and Kasich before he announced for president. He said he told both of them before he ran that "the water's fine" and "I would welcome you in. I know both of you."

