Sanford made the announcement during an interview on "Fox News Sunday."
"I had planned to announce that back home this week. We had a hurricane come visit us on the coast of South Carolina so that sort of disrupted plans on that front," Sanford said in an interview with host Chris Wallace. "But I am here to tell you now that I am going to get in."
“I think we need to have a conversation on what it means to be a Republican,” he said.
Sanford told Wallace several issues prompted him to jump into the race.
"I am compelled to enter the presidential primary as a Republican for several reasons – the most important of which is to further and foster a national debate on our nation's debt, deficits and spending," he said.
Former GOP SC governor and US Rep Sanford to challenge Trump in whatever primaries the GOP ends up having — several states are now looking to cancel GOP primaries to support Trump even with Sanford, Walsh and Weld challenging him https://t.co/A8U9j2NLMD https://t.co/eK1N4VaJMA
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) September 8, 2019
Sanford is the third person to announce a primary challenge against Trump behind former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld and former Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh.
Sanford is a former South Carolina congressman and governor. He lost his reelection bid for his congressional seat in 2018.
He is also famously known for an affair while governor when he told aides he was hiking the Appalachian Trail but was secretly meeting with his girlfriend in Argentina.
BREAKING: Mark Sanford announces he's launching a primary challenge against President Trump. https://t.co/3VUkJU866v
— Axios (@axios) September 8, 2019
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