Trump Weighs In on the Idea of an Amash Run

Rep. Justin Amash on Tuesday took a step toward launching his own third-party bid for the presidency—and President Trump essentially told him to go for it on Wednesday. In what the Hill terms a "mocking" tweet, Trump wrote, "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." Politico frames Trump as "egging on" the Michigan independent in a tweet that concluded with, "He almost always votes for the Do Nothing Dems anyway. I like him even more than Jill Stein!"

The latter was a reference to the 2016 Green Party nominee. Politico notes that some people claimed Stein siphoned votes from Hillary Clinton, helping to hand Trump the White House. Trump's tweet was paired with a Washington Post op-ed by former Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh, who argued that should Amash secure the Libertarian nomination, the same thing could play out this election cycle. But a CNN analysis by Harry Enten argues that the limited polling data on Amash doesn't place his meager support with any one demographic. Enten believes any impact Amash might have would be nominal, though he does acknowledge that it's possible Amash could have a greater impact in Michigan, where Biden currently leads Trump by 8 points. (More Election 2020 stories.)