Will Hurd, Unfiltered

The former congressman gets candid about the state of the Republican Party and the challenges the U.S. faces.

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Good Tuesday morning from Washington, D.C., where the cherry blossoms are in peak bloom.

Will Hurd’s American Reboot

Former congressman and Central Intelligence Agency officer Will Hurd is acting like a man who wants to run for president. 

When asked directly about running in 2024, he won’t rule it out. “If the opportunity is there, I’ll evaluate it and see if I can pull it off,” he tells me in a phone interview.

The Texas Republican’s slick website, explainer videos about current events, and speaking engagements have kept him in the political fray, despite wrapping up his time in Congress at the end of 2020. That’s why readers might be tempted to see Hurd’s new book, American Reboot, as part of a larger campaign strategy, neatly fitting into the conventional Here’s-Why-I-Should-Be-President genre.

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  1. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    Very interesting, Haley. Thanks for reading his book for us. Hurd just might be a Republican candidate I could vote for in 2024.

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    Rccater

    Will Hurd was my congressman and I have met him several times. He was one of the most realistic and rational voices in the House concerning the border, immigration, defense, and tech. I am buying his book and would welcome an opportunity to vote for him as president. Hurd is exactly the kind of young, fresh, centrist candidate we should wish for.

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    Mudskipper

    I'd need to know a little more, but right now it sounds like Hurd is Republican I could vote for for President. Thanks for the profile.

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    Graps

    This piece actually deserved one of those verboten click-bait headlines because more people need to read it. I hadn't really heard much about Rep. Hurd; thanks for sharing all this good info.

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    Logical

    Don’t Be an Asshole, Racist, Misogynist, or Homophobe.

    That's a chapter title!

    Think about it my dear cons on TD. You end up defending GOP most of the time on this board. Are you willing to give up one or more of the traits Mr. Hurd is appealing you to get rid off?

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      Show Jay Janney the 🚪!

      Depend son how one defines each of those terms. Am I anti- LGBT because I support anti-discrimination against LGBTs but think Lia Thomas should not be swimming in women's races?

      I can go on about all four terms, but unless you define succinctly what you mean by each term, then it's an exercise in futility to ask me if I'll give up any of them....

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        Logical

        The Utah Gov vetoed an anti-Trans-sport bill because there are only four trans out of 75,000 playing, and only one of them is directly implicated in the bill. The Gov is concerned about the suicidal tendencies of the singled out. Now, that's NOT an asshole in my book.

        That verges on a Bill of Attainder. All in the UTAH legislature who voted for the bill fit my definition of assholes.

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          jt

          Ignoramoose when it comes to Bill of Attainders. Welcome being educated on what it is, and how it applies in this situation.

          So, lemme get this straight. A bill that effects four people negatively, and a bill that helps 74,996 WOMEN have their RIGHTS to a fair competition? That's a bad bill? And people who think it's a good one are arseholes? Is that Your proposition.

          Are YOU a misogynist, Logical?

          And YOu should know that that bit about suicide is the typical trope of the Leftist Trans Activists. Just what You would expect from such a nefarious group-a people.

          Now I admit I'm not well-read, so only thing I actually KNOW for CERTAIN is the trans... Can't recall which way they went. When s/he transitioned, she found out that it didn't help out at ALL. Not uncommon, from what I know. Now S/HE positively DID commit suicide. Don't make go look for the link, please. I tell as few lies as possible.

          Given, anybody even THINKING about transitioning is in fragile mental state.

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    2. Phil P

      That’s funny coming from you. You go into a rage when anyone on here is critical of the left, and are easily the biggest asshole on the comment boards.

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      Mudskipper

      You must have read "How to Win Friends and Influence Enemies" and decided you were going to do the exact opposite.

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        Logical

        Touche! But don't you think it's an interesting exhortation from a politician?

        And that he finds it necessary ?

        And TD highlighted it?

        Am I missing something?

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          Magpie

          Well, to state the obvious, you implied that the conservatives on this forum are assholes, racists, misogynists and/or homophobes. Some of them might quite reasonably take exception to that.

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            Logical

            That's fair.

            I have been a voter since 1980. Been personally successful in a scientific career (mentioning just so analytical reasoning is not beyond me). While any or all of those attrubutes may not be applicable to most of the conservatives on this board, I can say categorically that conservatives looked the other way when most of their politicians exhibited those attributes. Dog whistles in early 80's to bullhorns since Obama. I believe it's not a blindspot but willful ignorance.

            I also sense that most of them will go back to GOP in a beat...just biding time for the Trump dust to settle.

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      jt

      Haha, I'm first-time commenter, so have ZERO, zip, zilch, NADA REPUTATION to worry about.

      Which one You wanna have gone? Arsehole, no can do. Racist, You dunno me well enough to know I'm one-a the LEAST racist people around. NO, I'm not a Trumpster. I said ONE-a the least. One among quite a few million on the planet who aren't racist MUCH at all. I had the Misogynist knocked outta me in a martriarchal household. Homophobe? I was actually accused of that in a job. My reaction. REALLY bad one, to head of programmers. I laughed.

      You willin' to give up on the Pope of the Wokesters, my friend? (Biden)

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        Logical

        Did you just jump off the Breitbart comment board? Just askin.

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          jt

          Never heard-a it until now. Don't travel in those circles if I had. Former lifelong Dem, here. You?

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            Logical

            Good luck with your new gig here. Sorry mistook you for a Breitbarter.

            There are two or three kindered spirits for you on this board. General attacks are ok but not recommended singling out individuals personally on the board.

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    BrettH

    Enjoyed the read, thanks Haley. The next GOP presidential primary is likely going to be utterly detached from reality, but I hope a grounded and principled guy like Hurd throws his hat in the ring.

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    jt

    Like others, thank You for GREAT article. My only complaint is book isn't out until 03/09. Impatient fool, is all. TY again.

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  8. Cody

    I was a Field Representative on Hurd's 2018 reelection campaign. I grew to admire and respect him a lot--he's a super smart guy with an unique approach to the issues. It's obvious that he has a lot of ambition.

    He made a big mistake, I think, in choosing to forgo running for reelection. I understand that being a congressman is difficult--particularly when you're in the minority--however if one is going to run for a higher office some day, they need to stay active; the public needs to see them.

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      jt

      As I've said elsewhere, I'm a political ignoramoose. And I respect Your experience. I just wonder if he can be seen a LOT more widely using a national book tour as a vehicle. Where a congressman? Dunno that's even a viable path anymore, if You're looking for the top job.

      Seriously tho, IC-definitely-BW. Just thinkin' outloud.

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  9. Ken Kimball

    Hurd enough to think I'm not interested in him. Reinforces my negative view of Trump but his claim that climate change is existential crisis leading to 6th mass extinction tells me he's listening to hysteria and not science. To be fair, I would be willing to listen to what he's proposing regarding climate change--i.e. more nuclear, natural gas replacing coal as bridge transition, recognizing the problem of intermittency for solar and wind and also recognizing that covering the rural landscape with wind and solar farms and the extraction and use of the massive amount of rare earths have a real environemntal cost, not to mention that significantly raising the price for energy will leave a lot of people far poorer, etc. But an awful lot of proposed climate change "strategies" employ being "socialist" the thing he says that political leaders shouldn't be. I'm not a denier and we need to be careful about not fouling our nest (the earth) but again that applies as well to the mining and processing of rare earths and metals and land use. Let me know when they're raising dairy cattle in the open in western Greenland and England and Denmark have major viniproduction as was the case 1,000 years ago (The Little Ice Age). I'm with Lombord and other scientists on this. Panic driven decision making rarely benefits the average person, however much it may benefit elites and the wealthy.

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      Show Jay Janney the 🚪!

      I wonder what Hurd's strategy is for protecting birds from windmills? Rename all of the Don Quixote?

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      jt

      Yeah. Lombord who? If I may ask.

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      1. Ken Kimball

        Ooops! Can't even blame spellcheck. (Bjorn) Lomborg.

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        Mudskipper

        I think he means Bjorn Lomborg.

        We are unquestionably in the midst of a major extinction event, and one that isn't caused by just climate change. Whether it turns out to be the equivalent of one of the five major extinction events on this planet is yet unclear, but there is that possibility. We'd be very foolish to ignore what is going on around us, but we are, in many ways, a very foolish species.

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        1. Ken Kimball

          Yes. Just saw your correction to my mis-stating his name. Thank you.

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          jt

          TY for info, M. Mudskipper. But, HONESTLY. A "very foolish species." You have a WAY overly-complimentary view of Your species. Me? "Foolishness that goes so far BEYOND the pale, I wonder we survived THIS long." IOW I agree, after my own fashion.

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    Will I Am

    Thanks for the heads up on Will Hurd’s book. If only guys like him were the rule instead of the exception among Texas’ elected leaders.

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