Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Ex-GOP lawmaker challenging Trump
Walsh joins Weld in 2020 primary race
WASHINGTON — Joe Walsh, a former Illinois congressman and tea party favorite, announced Sunday that he will challenge President Donald Trump in the 2020 primary, becoming the second Republican to wage a bid against the president.
Walsh, a talk-radio host, was elected to Congress in 2010 as part of the tea party wave and served one term, losing his re-election bid to Democrat Tammy Duckworth. He has described himself as an immigration hard-liner and said he would not challenge Trump from the center but from the right and on moral grounds.
“I’m going to run for president,” Walsh said Sunday in an interview on ABC’s This Week, charging that the president is “incompetent,” “a bigot” and “a narcissist.”
“He lies every time he opens his mouth,” Walsh said of Trump, adding, “He told us trade wars are easy. Tell that to American farmers right now. Tell that to American consumers. President Trump said, ‘I will eliminate the debt in eight years.’ He’s increased it faster than [former President] Barack Obama did.”
Asked about Walsh’s entry into the race, Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh replied, “Whatever.”
Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld also has declared that he is running against Trump in the Republican primary, but he has struggled to gain traction. Weld welcomed Walsh’s arrival, saying he was “thrilled” by the news.
“I think that’s terrific,” he said on NBC’s Meet the Press. “And it’s going to be a more robust conversation. Who knows? The networks might even cover Republican primary debates.”
In Sunday’s interview on This Week, Walsh staked his run on harsh criticism of the president and questioned Trump’s support among Republicans.
“He’s nuts. He’s erratic. He’s cruel. He stokes bigotry. He’s incompetent. He doesn’t know what he’s doing, George; he’s a narcissist,” Walsh told host George Stephanopoulos.
Walsh also released an announcement video in which he called on Americans to have “the courage to finally say publicly what we all know privately: We’re tired.”
“My name is Joe Walsh. I’m a former Republican congressman. I’m a conservative. I’m running because Donald Trump is not who we are. In fact, he’s the worst of who we are,” Walsh says in the video.
In the This Week interview, Walsh apologized for his criticism of Obama, saying that he and other tea party Republicans helped create a partisan political environment that facilitated Trump’s election.
“I got personal and I got hateful. I said some ugly things about President Obama that I regret … that helped create Trump, and I feel responsible for that,” he said.
In August 2015, after Trump let a supporter feel his hair to prove that it was real, Walsh tweeted, “Obama never let a voter feel his birth certificate.”
In July 2016, after five police officers were killed in Dallas, Walsh tweeted, “This is now war. Watch out Obama. Watch out black lives matter punks. Real America is coming after you.” Walsh later said he was not trying to incite violence, and the tweet was deleted.
Just days before Trump’s 2016 win over Hillary Clinton, Walsh tweeted: “On November 8th, I’m voting for Trump. On November 9th, if Trump loses, I’m grabbing my musket. You in?” Walsh later said on Twitter that he was referring to “acts of civil disobedience.”
On Dec. 31, 2016, Walsh tweeted, “Obama is a Muslim,” adding, “Happy New Year!”
In March 2017, Walsh tweeted that the country held Obama “to a lower standard cuz he was black.” In August 2017, Walsh made a similar remark about Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., stating, “If you’re black & a woman, you can say dumb things. Lowered bar.”
Walsh, who has said he voted for Trump in 2016, claimed that the president’s rise had caused him to reconsider his remarks.
“Well, again, the beauty of what President Trump has done is, George, he’s made me reflect on some of the things I have said in the past,” he said. “I had strong policy disagreements with Barack Obama, and too often I let those policy disagreements get personal.”
Stephanopoulos pressed him: “Did you really believe he’s a Muslim?”
“God no,” Walsh replied. “And I have apologized for that.”
Walsh said challenging the president “isn’t easy to do,” adding, “I’m opening up my life to tweets and attacks. Everything I’ve said and tweeted now, Trump’s going to go after, and his bullies are going to go after.”
Asked whether he was prepared for that, Walsh replied: “Yes, I’m ready for it.”