April 22 (UPI) -- Marine combat veteran and Massachusetts congressman Seth Moulton announced Monday he will seek the Democratic nomination for president in 2020.
"I'm running for President to build a strong and safe country, create the jobs of the future, and elect leaders we can be proud of," he said in a tweet Monday.
The 40-year-old congressman earned a bronze star for his service in Iraq and defeated longtime Democratic incumbent John Tierney in 2014 to represent Massachusetts in the House.
"We need to restore our moral authority in everything we do," Moulton said in a video posted to YouTube Sunday. "Whether it's appointing a cabinet member, negotiating a treaty or signing an executive order."
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If elected, Moulton would become the youngest president in U.S. history.
"Decades of division and corruption have broken our democracy and robbed Americans of their voice," Moulton said in the video. "It's all led to an administration that's turned away from our values and is shredding our moral authority."
"I'm running because we have to beat Donald Trump, and I want us to beat Donald Trump because I love this country," he added. "We've never been a country that gets everything right. But we're a country that, at our best, thinks we might. I'd be honored if you joined me in this mission."
Moulton started a national political action committee called Serve America that aims to elect national Democratic candidates who have served in the military or have other forms of service in their background. He made national headlines by opposing Nancy Pelosi's appointment to speaker of the House, but later supported it.
Moulton has visited the early primary and caucus states to prepare for his run and said he'll visit them again this week. He's also participating in a service project in each states.
Moulton led one of the first platoons to enter Baghdad during the initial invasion in 2003. Other veterans in the race include Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Ind., and Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.
Moulton is the 19th Democrat to announce a run for the presidency in 2020 and is one of eight men in the race. That list of Democrats also includes Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
