Former congressman Joe Walsh.
Former congressman Joe Walsh is considering a primary run against President Trump. The Hill. Walsh is the 2nd Republican to announce a primary challenge after former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld. Joe Walsh supported President Trump in 2020 but has been extremely critical of him since then. Walsh was a single term congressman who was part of the Tea Party.
My Comment:
What a joke this run is. Walsh has essentially zero chance of being the candidate in 2020. President Trump's approval among Republicans has been hovering around 90% among Republicans and around 50% among voters. That is not the environment where there can be a successful primary challenger.
The timing is pretty bad as well. The Democrats are already debating and have raised money. Joe Walsh hasn't even officially announced and Bill Weld hasn't gotten any support at all. Neither of them has the time to raise the funds and polling to actually qualify for a debate.
It's also unclear who Joe Walsh would appeal too. The vast majority of Republicans are on board with President Trump's agenda. The ones that aren't have either left the party or are completely irrelevant neocons like Bill Kristol (who is backing Walsh's run). There isn't a constituency of people on the right that are unhappy with President Trump, other than far-right racists, and Walsh wouldn't go after them anyways.
Furthermore it seems like Joe Walsh's whole pitch is that President Trump lacks the character to be president. That's essentially the strategy Hillary Clinton used in 2016 and it failed miserably. Voters don't care too much about character and instead care about policy.
Trump is winning on policy for his voters. Though his weakness on gun rights hasn't been great, he has accomplished much in terms of immigration, the economy and foreign policy. Walsh doesn't seem to be anything but another neocon, who the Republican Party has rejected pretty explicitly. Voters don't care if Trump puts his foot in his mouth once in a while, they care about results and Trump is getting them.
I also have to say that President Trump is far more entertaining than Walsh. I've seen Joe Walsh on Twitter and all he does is whine and act outraged. Meanwhile, President Trump is cracking jokes, making fun of the Democrats and generally being a laugh riot. Why would anyone vote for Walsh over someone like that?
My guess is that Walsh doesn't want to win anything. He wants to get his name out there so he can make the cable news circuit. There is nothing that they like more than a "Republican" who only criticizes his fellow Republicans. It's not a legitimate run it's a way for him to make money.
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