Seth Moulton: 5 Things To Know About MA Congressman Running For President

Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton, a former marine, announced on April 22 that he's joining the crowded 2020 race.

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April 22, 2019 10:34AM EDT
Seth Moulton
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U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton questions gas executives during a hearing on gas pipeline safety in the Merrimack Valley, in Lawrence, Mass Gas Explosions, Lawrence, USA - 26 Nov 2018
Seth Moulton, Mike Thompson, Salud Carbajal. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., center, with Rep. Mike Thompson, left, and Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Calif., all military veterans, speaks during a news conference about President Donald Trump's threatened strikes in Syria, where they called his social media rhetoric reckless and provocative, on Capitol Hill in Washington Syria Congress Veterans, Washington, USA - 13 Apr 2018
Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., asks a question of Budget Director Mick Mulvaney during a the House Budget Committee hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington Congress Trump Budget, Washington, USA - 14 Feb 2018
Image Credit: Winslow Townson/AP/Shutterstock

Get ready to memorize yet another name in the 2020 race. Massachusetts Congressman Seth Moulton, 40, announced during an interview with Good Morning America on April 22 that he too is running for president in 2020. Moulton becomes the 19th Democrat to announce their intention to challenge President Donald Trump for the presidency. But does he have what it takes to knock the 18 other candidates out of the race — then beat Trump? Learn more about him:

1. Moulton is running because he “believes in this country.” Moulton announced his run in an interview with George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America. “I’m running because I’m a patriot, because I believe in this country, and because I’ve never wanted to sit on the sidelines when it comes to serving it. That’s why I joined the Marines,” Moulton, who served four tours in Iraq, said. “It’s why I ran for Congress to try to prevent what I saw got us into Iraq from happening again, and it’s why I’m running to take on the most divisive president in American history, to bring this country back together.”

2. He became a congressman in 2015. After graduating from Harvard in 2001 with a physics degree, Moulton joined the Marine Corps. He served four tours of duty in Iraq after 9/11, later criticizing the war as based on a “lie” about weapons of mass destruction. After returning home, he got his Master’s in business and public policy. He won the election to become the representative of Massachusetts’ 6th district, and was reelected in 2016. He had the support of former VP Joe Biden and MA Senator Elizabeth Warren; Warren is running for president in 2020, and Biden is expected to announce his candidacy.

3. He once compared Trump to Hitler. During a 2016 interview with The Boston Globe, Moulton compared Trump’s rise to power in the 2016 presidential race to that of Adolf Hitler’s in the 1930s. According to Moulton, in order to understand who a society “can elect a demagogue,” voters should study how the German people elected Hitler.

4. He’s a critic of his own party. Moulton has argued that Democrats need a new generation of leaders. Along with fellow 2020 candidate Tim Ryan of Ohio, was part of a coalition in the House of Representatives that opposed Nancy Pelosi becoming Speaker of the House when Democrats took back power in the 2018 midterms.

5. He would be the youngest president in United States history. At 40 years old, Moulton would become the youngest president. John F. Kennedy was the youngest elected president at 43; Theodore Roosevelt was 42 when he succeeded the presidency, following the assassination of William McKinley. Bill Clinton and Ulysses S. Grant were 46; Barack Obama and Grover Cleveland were 47. Should he win, Bernie Sanders would be the oldest person elected president, at 76.