Former GOP congressman exploring primary challenge says 'somebody's got to punch' Trump 'in the face every single day'
Former Republican congressman Joe Walsh (Ill.) wants to get in the ring and work on his left jab, apparently.
Now a conservative talk radio host, Walsh is reportedly exploring a primary challenge to President Trump, and his reasons for doing so are not subtle.
"He's a bully and a coward," Walsh told The Washington Post, referring to the president. "Somebody's got to punch him in the face every single day." The former Illinois lawmaker, the Post notes, has been known for his own "incendiary comments" since he was elected to the House as part of the Tea Party wave in 2010 and served one term.
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Assuming Walsh goes through with the plan, he'd reportedly take a different approach from Trump's currently lone primary challenger, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, who leans libertarian. Instead, Walsh, an immigration hard-liner who voted for Trump in 2016, would attack Trump from the right and "on moral grounds." (It's important to note Weld is also campaigning against Trump's "outrageous racism.")
The Post also mentioned former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R), former Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R), and former Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), as possible GOP primary challengers. Flake said he has no intention of running, but did add that several Republican donors who are worried about the state of the economy have called to ask him to at least consider launching a bid. "They are wondering, if the economy isn't stellar next year, how is the party going to win?," he said. "By the president offending more people?"
Finally, there are the 2012 nostalgists, reportedly self-aware of the futility of their fantasy, who still want a certain Utah politician to throw his hat into the ring. But Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) is not expected enter the race. Read more at The Washington Post.
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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
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