Quote:Two months after former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld launched an exploratory committee to pursue the possibility of challenging President Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, he is now an officially declared candidate.

Weld made the announcement Monday evening in a more than three-minute video

Quote:The video says that Weld was the first Republican governor of Massachusetts in more than 20 years, calls him a “crime fighter” who as governor cut taxes, reformed the welfare program and balanced the state’s budget, while making the state safer. The video shows clips of his television advertisement during his 1990 campaign for the office.

Weld announced his exploratory on Feb. 15 at a Politics and Eggs breakfast at the Bedford Village Inn, calling Trump unstable, vindictive, “a schoolyard bully” and unfit for the presidency.

State Republican Chair Steve Stepanek said at the time Weld would not be welcome in the NHGOP because as the vice presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party in 2016, he declared that he would be a “Libertarian for life.”

Although Weld made his announcement Monday, he has been officially on file as a candidate since April 1. Federal Election Commission records show that Weld filed a statement of candidacy and a statement of organization for the Weld 2020 Presidential Campaign Committee on that date.

Weld will follow up today's announcement with two full days of campaigning in the Granite State beginning Tuesday.