My party is a cult': Republican Joe Walsh on his Iowa challenge to Trump
Taking the nomination from the president is like throwing tennis balls at a tank – but the ex-congressman presses on
Taking the nomination from the president is like throwing tennis balls at a tank – but the ex-congressman presses on
About 50 people gathered around the room. Several had no intention of voting for the candidate. Several more were journalists from as far afield as Britain and the Czech Republic. Sandwiches and cookies were laid out on a side table.
Joe Walsh has modest ambitions for the Republican caucuses in Iowa on Monday. Challenging an incumbent president from the same party is usually a thankless task. When that incumbent is Donald Trump, it is doomed not only to failure but indifference.
While Democrats are locked in a titanic struggle, captivating the media, the forgotten Iowa caucuses of 2020 pitch Trump against Walsh, a former congressman from Illinois, and Bill Weld, a former governor of Massachusetts. Both seem token efforts, tennis balls bouncing off a tank
“There are a lot of people who don’t know a Republican caucus is happening,” said Charles Siler, communications director for Walsh, after the campaign stop at a community organisation called Urban Dreams in Des Moines on Friday night.
“We expect the turnout to be low but there’s a real chance for us because of that: we have the advantage of low expectations.”
Siler accused the Republican National Committee (RNC) and state parties of stitching up the nomination before the race has begun, denying access to voter data, threatening to blacklist donors and, in some states, keeping Walsh off the ballot altogether.
Trump’s absolute monarch status in the party was emphasized by senators’ vote on Friday to block witnesses and documents at his impeachment trial, assuring him of a speedy acquittal.
There is zero appetite for a challenger. If the party’s objective is make sure Walsh and Weld don’t get talked about, it appears to be succeeding.
Walsh tweeted on Saturday that Jeff Kaufmann, the Republican chairman in Iowa, “is a Trump tool. Like so many of these GOP state party chairs, he kisses Donald Trump’s ring on a daily basis. And like his master, Jeff Kaufmann will lie all the time.”
The previous night at Urban Dreams, wearing blue jacket, blue shirt and blue jeans, Walsh admitted it has been a steep learning curve.
“My party is a cult. I’m a conservative Republican; Fox News won’t have me on. Conservative media will ignore me because they’re a cult with Trump. The Republican parties in each state: they are a cult for 🍊. I didn’t sufficiently get all of that and that’s made this really hard
But the 58-year-old added: “Every time I’m out there talking primarily to Republican voters, because that’s what I’m trying to do, there are a lot of Republicans that get angry at me and we get threats every day and it can get ugly… but
I’m always amazed at the number of Republicans who tell me, ‘I like some of the things Trump’s done, Joe, but I’m exhausted with Trump.’
Every day it’s the Donald Trump show. So I think I have an opportunity to do better than people think and I hope I can do that in Iowa.”
“I think Trump is the worst Having him in the White House was like a cold slap for me … I asked, ‘Oh my God, on my worst day, did I sound like Trump?’”
