Joe Walsh: I’m sorry I helped ‘create Trump’
He enters GOP primary, apologizes for own past
On Sunday, former Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh addressed his role in stirring racist rhetoric in politics in the past while announcing his intentions of challenging President Donald Trump in the Republican primary.
Walsh apologized for his past comments in an appearance on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” in which he said he had a role in Trump’s ascension.
“I helped create Trump, there’s no doubt about that,” he said.
Walsh went on to offer his opinion of Trump: “He’s nuts, he’s erratic, he’s cruel, he stokes bigotry.”
He also wrote in a recent New York Times op-ed that Trump “inspires imitators” but brought up his own “share of controversy.”
“At times, I expressed hate for my political opponents. We now see where this can lead,” he wrote. “There’s no place in our politics for personal attacks like that, and I regret making them.”
Walsh announced his campaign on Twitter Sunday morning, saying, “It won’t be easy, but bravery is never easy.”
ABC News’ Jonathan Carl said on the show that the Trump campaign’s only response thus far to Walsh’s challenge was one word: “Whatever.”
Walsh joins former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld in the primary against Trump.
In 2014, Walsh was pulled off the air during his talk radio show for using racist slurs. He also promoted the “birther” conspiracy during President Barack Obama’s time in office and said Obama was elected only because he is black.
When asked by Stephanopoulos on Sunday to address instances of his own racism, including his promotion of the conspiracy theory that Obama is Muslim and remarks against Sen. Kamala Harris, Walsh said he has reflected on his previous statements.
“I said some ugly things about President Obama that I regret,” Walsh said.
Walsh has a history of inconsistency in his opinions of Trump’s rhetoric. At times, he has denounced the president as a racist. This summer, when Trump told four Democratic congresswomen, who are people of color and citizens of the U.S., to go back to their countries of origin if they do not like this country, Walsh spoke out.
“To say ‘go back to where you came from’ is gross. It’s offensive, ignorant, anti-American, and racist,” he tweeted.
Walsh said the one good thing about the president’s language is that it has made him realize his attacks were inappropriate.
“We have a guy in the White House who’s never apologized for anything he’s done or said. I think it’s a weakness not to apologize,” Walsh told Stephanopoulos.