Sanford bets he can withstand likely Trump campaign jabs

Published April 10, 2026 6:29am ET



The last time former Rep. and South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford went up against President Donald Trump, it didn’t end well for him.

By June 2018, the House member had become one of congressional Republicans’ most vocal critics of Trump, during the president’s first nonconsecutive term. Sanford had for months lambasted Trump from the right over profligate federal spending.

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