President Donald Trump has greeted his latest Republican primary challenger, Mark Sanford, in his own style, mocking the former South Carolina governor for his extramarital affair and political failures.

“When the former Governor of the Great State of South Carolina, @MarkSanford, was reported missing, only to then say he was away hiking on the Appalachian Trail, then was found in Argentina with his Flaming Dancer friend, it sounded like his political career was over,” the President jibed on Monday.

When the former Governor of the Great State of South Carolina, @MarkSanford, was reported missing, only to then say he was away hiking on the Appalachian Trail, then was found in Argentina with his Flaming Dancer friend, it sounded like his political career was over. It was,.... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 9, 2019

Governor of South Carolina from 2003 to 2011 and Representative for much of the last three decades, Sanford unsuccessfully ran for re-election last year, only to be defeated by Trump-backed candidate Katie Arrington in the June primary, a fact Trump was only too keen to remind him of.

Sanford announced on Sunday that he would challenge the president for the Republican nomination next year, becoming the third Repulican to enter the race.

Political career aside, the meat of Trump’s tweet concerned Sanford’s 2009 affair with his Argentine mistress María Belén Chapur, a woman he described as his “soul mate.” After admitting to the Argentinian tryst, Sanford later told Associated Press that he would “try” to fall back in love with his wife. Sanford’s efforts were in vain though, and his wife Jenny filed for divorce later that year.

“But now take heart,” Trump continued on Monday. “He is back, and running for President of the United States. The Three Stooges, all badly failed candidates, will give it a go!”

...but then he ran for Congress and won, only to lose his re-elect after I Tweeted my endorsement, on Election Day, for his opponent. But now take heart, he is back, and running for President of the United States. The Three Stooges, all badly failed candidates, will give it a go! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 9, 2019

Sanford’s chances of stopping the Trump juggernaut are low. The President enjoys –if his preferred polls are to be believed– a 94 percent approval rating among Republicans, and the party has ruled out primary contests in three states; Kansas, Nevada, and even Sanford’s home state of South Carolina. Even Sanford himself compared the task of defeating Trump from within the GOP to a “David and Goliath story.”

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