Rep. Justin Amash says he won’t run for president

Rep. Justin Amash, the Michigan congressman who left the Republican Party last year, said on Twitter that he will not run for president this year.

"After much reflection, I've concluded that circumstances don't lend themselves to my success as a candidate for president this year, and therefore I will not be a candidate," he tweeted.

Amash said that the polarization in the country, as well as the challenges to campaigning posed by the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing, meant it was not the right year for a successful third-party bid.

Last month, he had said he would seek the Libertarian Party's nomination, saying "Americans are ready for practical approaches based in humility and trust of the people."

Amash, 40, was elected in the 2010 tea party wave and grew increasingly distant from Republicans as the decade went on, fending off a primary challenge from a business-backed conservative in 2014. He was deeply critical of Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, and even more critical of what the GOP did with control of the legislative and executive branches.