GOP Presidential Candidate Joe Walsh: I Realized 'Nobody Can Beat Trump in a Republican Primary'
Former Rep. Joe Walsh of Illinois gave the Republican Party a stern talking-to Tuesday after failing to garner much support from Iowans in his effort to prevent President Donald Trump from capturing the GOP nomination.
Walsh captured just 348 of the more than 32,000 Republican votes cast in the Iowa caucuses, to end up with 1.1 percent of the vote. Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld grabbed 424 votes and 1.3 percent of the total cast, while Trump secured 31,422, votes or 97.1 percent of the total, according to The New York Times.
In a vignette reported by The Times, Walsh was upbraided by a Trump supporter last week in Iowa when he was trying to accuse the president of lying.
“Let me ask you something!” the unnamed voter said.
“Has Adam Schiff ever lied?” the voter asked. “What about ‘Shifty Schiff’?”
“You’re like Adam Schiff,” he told Walsh, “lying to the American people!”
The Times also quoted conservative talk radio host Matt Locke as offering a brief summation of Walsh’s candidacy.
“I don’t mind Joe,” Locke said, “but he doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell.”
After losing the Iowa caucuses on Monday, Walsh bemoaned his plight in a series of tweets.
“I spoke in front of 3,000 Iowa Republicans last night. It was like a MAGA rally,” he tweeted Tuesday. “I told them we needed a President who doesn’t lie all the time. The crowd booed me. I told them we needed a President who wasn’t indecent & cruel. The crowd booed me.”
I told them we needed a President who doesn’t care only about himself. The crowd booed me. I told them the Republican Party needed to do some real soul searching. The crowd booed me. 2/
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) February 4, 2020
“I told them we needed a President who doesn’t care only about himself. The crowd booed me. I told them the Republican Party needed to do some real soul searching. The crowd booed me,” Walsh added.
Walsh continued to complain that his Trump-bashing fell on deaf ears.
“I told them that, because of Trump, young people, women, and people of color want nothing to do with the Republican Party,” he said. “The crowd booed me.”
“I told them I’m a pro life, pro gun, secure the border conservative, but we need a President who is decent and represents everyone,” he added. “The crowd booed me.”
“I got booed, yelled at, jeered, and given the middle finger for the 3-4 minutes I spoke to these 3,000 people,” he tweeted.
Then Walsh said he realized what the vote totals in fact said plainly — that his candidacy was being rejected. However, he framed the rejection by saying voters don’t care about the terrible things he claimed the president has done.
they don’t care that he cheats to get re-elected, they don’t care that he attacks the free press, they don’t care that he increases the debt, they don’t care that his tariffs have killed Iowa farmers, they don’t care that Trump abuses the Constitution and acts like a dictator. 5/
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) February 4, 2020
“Afterwards, I realized again that 99.9% of these folks don’t support me,” Walsh tweeted.
“They don’t care that Trump lies, they don’t care that he’s cruel, they don’t care that he cheats to get re-elected, they don’t care that he attacks the free press, they don’t care that he increases the debt, they don’t care that his tariffs have killed Iowa farmers, they don’t care that Trump abuses the Constitution and acts like a dictator.”
Then he reached his main point.
“Afterwards, I realized again that my Republican Party isn’t a Party, it’s a cult. I realized again that nobody can beat Trump in a Republican Primary. And most importantly and most sadly, I realized again that I don’t belong in this party. I have no home in this party,” Walsh tweeted.
And I realized again that something new needs to begin. Whether it’s a political party, or a movement, I don’t know. But there needs to be a home for conservatives who are decent, principled, and respectful. Conservatives who embrace all God’s children, acknowledge that 7/
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) February 4, 2020
Walsh wrote that that a new American political scene could emerge, but only if Trump is defeated.
“And I realized again that something new needs to begin. Whether it’s a political party, or a movement, I don’t know,” he said.
“But there needs to be a home for conservatives who are decent, principled, and respectful. Conservatives who embrace all God’s children, acknowledge that climate change is real, get serious about our debt, abide by our Constitution, and tell the truth. I hope to be a part of this new party. This new movement.”
to stop Trump. Let’s make sure Trump is defeated in 2020, then we get back to respectfully debating issues. Instead of talking about Trump everyday. Let’s put aside our differences on certain issues now and understand that Trump is the single greatest threat to this Republic. 9/
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) February 4, 2020
“But job #1 in 2020 is to stop Trump. And all of us from across the political spectrum need to come together to stop Trump,” he said.
“Let’s make sure Trump is defeated in 2020, then we get back to respectfully debating issues. Instead of talking about Trump everyday. Let’s put aside our differences on certain issues now and understand that Trump is the single greatest threat to this Republic.”
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