GEOFF BENNETT: As the field of Republicans vying to win the party's 2024 presidential nomination continues to grow, more candidates are hitting the campaign trail.

Former Texas Congressman Will Hurd is one of them, and he joins us now from Manchester, New Hampshire.

Welcome back to the "NewsHour."

FMR.

REP. WILL HURD (R-TX), President Candidate: It's always pleasure to be on.

Thanks for having me.

GEOFF BENNETT: So, you are a former member of Congress.

You're also a former CIA officer.

And you have said that your national security experience is what sets you apart in this race.

I want to start with some policy before we get to the horse race politics.

You accused the Biden White House... FMR.

REP. WILL HURD: I appreciate that, by the way.

(LAUGHTER) FMR.

REP. WILL HURD: Thanks for that about talking policy before politics.

GEOFF BENNETT: We always start with policy here at the "NewsHour."

But you accused the Biden White House of wringing their hands and doing nothing as that Russian mercenary group mounted that short-lived rebellion against Vladimir Putin over the weekend.

Why, in your mind, was intervention the right approach?

FMR.

REP. WILL HURD: Well, so I wasn't saying intervention.

I was saying doubling down on our partners and our friends.

When your adversary is in a period of chaos and uncertainty, that's actually an opportunity.

And we should have been doubling down in our support to the Ukrainians.

We should be making sure our NATO allies were doing the same.

And I think the Biden White House is consumed with this concept of escalation.

They believe that anything they do to help the Ukrainians is going to prompt the Russians going kamikaze.

And it didn't happen.

This is one of the reasons why the Obama administration didn't want to give support to the Ukrainians.

This is the one of the reasons that we don't want to escalate support to the Ukrainians now.

And, to me, this was a great opportunity.

When your adversary is mixed up worrying about their own house, strengthen your friends, so that they can push the Russians out of all Ukraine.

And the other thing that I was -- that happened over this weekend, and Tony Blinken set it on Sunday -- Secretary Blinken -- excuse me -- said it on Sunday -- is that it seems that the Biden administration's goal is to help the Ukrainians push the Russians out and reclaim land that the Russians took for the last 16 months, which means they're not interested in pushing the Russians out of all of Ukraine, which would include Crimea and Donbass.

And that is an absolute bad decision and bad policy, if that is indeed the Biden administration's plan for Ukraine.

GEOFF BENNETT: In the time that remains, let's talk about your candidacy.

You call yourself a dark horse candidate.

You're an unabashed moderate, a Donald Trump critic in a party that remains loyal to him.

What lane do you intend to fill?

FMR.

REP. WILL HURD: Well, my lane is simple.

It's -- it is, don't be afraid of Donald Trump, and -- but also put forward a vision of where we need to go.

We're at a period that we're facing a number of generational, defining challenges, everything from China trying to surpass us as a global superpower, persistent inflation at a time that new technologies like artificial intelligence is going upend every single industry, and recent reporting or recent data that suggests that our 13-year-olds have the worst scores in math, science and reading in this century.

These are major problems, and we should be having candidates that articulate a vision and look forward to the future.

And so that's what I'm going to do.

I was just in the North Country of New Hampshire.

This is not the most populated parts of the country.

But when you go in and talk to real people about issues they care about, they appreciate that, and that resonates.

And so that's what I'm going to do.

Nobody thought a Black Republican could win in a 72 percent Latino district when I ran for Congress.

And so we're going to -- we're going to take our message and hit streets.

GEOFF BENNETT: To the extent that Republican voters are looking for a way to make a clean break from Donald Trump and to focus on the policies that you just articulated, there are other contenders who have better name recognition than do you.

How are you going to fill that gap, make up for that?

FMR.

REP. WILL HURD: Well, listen, the election -- the first election is going to be in January of 2024.

And that's a long way away.

And the way you earn name I.D.

is get your message out.

So we're raising money.

We're building an organization.

We're spending time on the ground where places work.

And, look, I'm of the opinion America is great because we have options, and we should be excited about having a number of different options.

And, hopefully, this spurs a competition of ideas, because that's what's -- what has made this country so special.

And so when I had zero name I.D.

when I ran for Congress, my name is a little bit higher than that right now.

It's -- this isn't -- campaigns aren't rocket science.

It's just old-fashioned hard work.

And I'm going to be willing to put the work in and put ideas out there.

GEOFF BENNETT: Any concerns that a broad Republican field in some ways strengthens Donald Trump?

FMR.

REP. WILL HURD: No, because, again, this is the -- the idea that you have more options it's always better.

I think we should have learned -- everybody's worried about polling now and national polling.

And guess what?

Running for president is not one election.

It's 50 elections.

And the national polls don't have as big of an impact as local polls.

When you look at local polls, things have a little bit of a difference when you look at it.

And the reality is, is we should have learned since back in 2016 polling is just a snapshot in time.

It doesn't always predict who's coming out to vote.

And so, yes, I'm not worried about that.

More options is better.

GEOFF BENNETT: Will Hurd, Republican candidate for president, thanks for being with us.

FMR.

REP. WILL HURD: Of course.