You reap what you sow. You voted for him because he wasn’t Hillary Clinton. You partook of the Republican animosity towards Obama, not because he wasn’t competent but because he was black and didn’t satisfy your religious litmus test. This is what you have sown.
You are as culpable as anyone else for what is going on now. Expressing regret alone doesn’t absolve you. Beyond calling for a primary challenger, what are going to DO?
153
So where is the public apology to President Obama? Posting a "regret" in an op-ed piece doesn't cut it.
101
I say go for it!
26
Hello, Mr. Walsh. What's stopping you?
32
So why isn't this op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, where it might matter, rather than the New York Times, where it is preaching to the choir?
70
"... I soon realized that I couldn’t support him because of the danger he poses to the country, especially the division he sows at every chance, culminating a few weeks ago in his ugly, racist attack on four minority congresswomen."
Mr. Walsh, don't tell me you weren't well aware of these tendencies before the election. He certainly made no secret of them. You gave him your vote out of sheer cut-off-your-nose-to-spite-your-face hatred for the better qualified candidate. So spare me your mea culpas and sit down.
78
Thank you
8
Somehow I don't get the feeling that you're inviting us to draft you to be that challenger. But there is something you can do as a public figure and host of a radio show. And that is to speak out loudly and often for the cause of fair elections--one person, one vote; no gerrymandering; no voter suppression; and let us lay the electoral college to rest so it can never again steal the presidency from the person who received the most actual votes. Go to https://www.nationalpopularvote.com/, read and repeat everything it has to say. See how close we are to having enough state legislatures agree to give all electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote. Tell your listeners to push their state legislators to ratify the bill that does this. Give us the gift of fair representation and we the people will take it from there.
39
I'm shocked
2
So Mr. Walsh...why don't you run???
10
Why do we kid ourselves? 43% of the US population [including the entire GOP] is racist and/or prejudice against people of color and LGBTQ.
The GOP loves Trump because he says things they only whisper about - he's their village idiot, ventriloquist dummy who cuts their taxes and deregulates federal protections.
If I am a GOP Senator in a red State, Trump is the best thing since sliced bread .. He does all the heavy lifting and all I have to do is stand around and smile..
40
Well Joe, put your money where your mouth (or in this case your pen) is. Run, Joe, run.
10
Good for Joe Walsh speaking up.
Please note that in 2016 Joe Walsh tweeted this:
"3 Dallas Cops killed, 7 wounded. This is now war. Watch out Obama. Watch out black lives matter punks. Real America is coming after you."
I don't know much about Joe Walsh in 2019.
Does he use his nationally syndicated radio show to encourage skepticism among his listeners? How many listeners does he have? Do his listeners generally support DJT?
The 2016 tweet was deleted but did he ever try to explain or tone it down? War metaphors and claims of "Real America" aren't helpful. Does Walsh align more with Krauthammer or Alex Jones?
44
A primary challenger for Trump. Rather writing articles about finding an appealing Democrat the past 4 months, shouldn't finding a Republican challenger have been the conservative op-ed columnist mantra -- hello, Bret Shepherd -- all along?
2
I forget what sage said it, but it clearly applies here: When you make a deal with the Devil, you will always get exactly what you bargained for, but it will cost you more than you ever imagined.
42
The only way to restore democracy in America and return the country to the people is to obliterate the Republican party. The damage they have done to the country is truly horrendous.
30
I have to admit that I'm impressed. Until recently, he's always been a pretty obnoxious Republican who loved trolling and attacking people. I'm surprised that he apologized and regrets it.
10
Nobody decent. The GOP no longer has anyone who is a decent human being. Look at Mitt Romney. Now a 100% total Trump supporter.
22
Right... but if you couldn’t see what trump was before he was president, why would i trust your speculation on anything?
20
Those who support Trump; or the anti-Republican ideals of
the Trump Party; yes it is not a Republican Party who are
the majority in the US Senate ; it is the Trump Party supported
by campaign financing moguls who have ruined the Republican
Party and made the former GOP into a Party of Plutocrats who
control the former GOP for promoting their financial interests
the gun manufacturers; the pharmaceutical moguls...etc.
who run the former GOP in Congress...so yes we need
a real republican to take back the GOP which stood for
fiscal sanity...and practical goals...; in other words the
Party of Abraham Lincoln ...needs to have a renaissance.
I suggest looking at the next Republican primarhy challenger
former two term Government Bill Weld...who will expose
Trump for the phony he is..and most likely expose nte
rats nest of the so called GOP Swamp in D.C..
4
I've read through this opinion piece three times. What am I missing?
Joe Walsh if you want someone to primary Trump from the right do it yourself.
10
Be truly different from your shallow Republican base and say "I should've voted for Clinton", or "I will vote for the Democrat" against Trump in 2020. If you cannot take a chance in killing your radio show by such stands, then you are no different from the Republican congressmen you berate.
34
Romney had it right - Trump is a fraud and the people he fooled the most are white-collar republicans and Tea Partiers like yourself. don't waste your time with a primary challenge; encourage fellow republicans to vote democratic. sitting out will just further demean the principles you claim to care about.
18
Dear Mr. Walsh, when you see faschism, authoriatianism and daily disregard of the very foudnation of this country - the rule of law including the Consittution - on the accelerated march in the U.S. , you should stop your fantacies about the revolt from the right and you join the ONLY realistic political force to stop the daily demolition of America as we know it. That force - in the two-party system, not parlamentary one - is the Democratic Party. Join/form a political alliance to save the republic. Youc an argue policy differences later. You are alrefy guilty of having Trump elected. In all honesty, do you think Hillary Clinton - as imperfe3ct or "devil incarante" she may be - would do ANY of the things Trump does? Most importantly, do you think she'd side with authoritarians and hostile foreign powers to gain the Whote House? You voted for treachery - fully on display in 2016, you should raise your voice to stop it, if really bothers you as you say it does. Youc an do it in one way possible at this point in history: vote for a Democrat this time to restore normalcy. Othewise, talk is cheap.
11
It's good to see at least one right-winger confess to his own mistakes, and own up to his own part in this debacle.
I hope others follow suit, but I'm not optimistic. The GOP (now The American White Nationalist Party) is far too much in the bag for Trump. They are a twisted mess of Trumpian narcissism, Ayn Rand, fake Evangelicalism, and racial hatred; they are dishonest, disloyal, self-centered, and amoral. They have no values at all, that I can see - although of course they do like "owning the libs."
I think a new conservative party is going to have to displace them, and is going to have to beat this disgusting old mess into the ground. But where are they going to come from? The current bunch of cowards? I seriously doubt it.
I'm afraid this is going to continue on for some time, and defeating Trump at the polls isn't going to fix it. But at least he would be gone.
8
I would like a barking dog (any breed) to enter the race on the Republican side. Hey, they've already elected one dog; why not another?
4
It's a little hard to believe that Republicans didn't know what they were getting in Trump based on his campaign. He held rallies that resembled those of Mussolini. He attacked Hispanics, Muslims, and blacks with overtly racist comments. He spewed lies on a constant basis. Democrats certainly had a good idea what they were getting. The only question was would it be as bad as Germany in the 1930s or not. Democrats so far have been relieved that Trump has not declared a national emergency on a phony basis and tried to suspend freedoms in the US to establish a dictatorship. But he has done an awful lot of damage here in the US and around the world.
22
The time for the GOP to stand up was at the 2016 convention.
America was treated to the spectacle of a bullying ignoramus scandalously inciting racist animus and bragging about sexual assault.
Add to that his record of business ineptitude and chicanery and a more unfit candidate could not be found.
Sorry Mr. Walsh. Your party blew it in historic fashion and all the talk now will not save your party or your disingenuous claims of "responsible conservatism".
The GOP will now be the party that was a stealth white supremacist party until Trump pulled off the hood in 2016.
12
Republicans are weak. That is why there are no challengers.
7
Walsh was a primary contributor to the Obama birther lie.....I don’t accept his mea culpa now or forever
Why is the team party not doing crazy over the deficit....hmm, let me guess why...
18
Joe Walsh has little business giving political advice to the American people, given his own history. That said, let a million revolutions against Trump bloom. Throw your hat in the ring, Mr. Walsh. Get over your 2012 HoR loss to Tammy Duckworth. Put down that right-wing talk radio mike. Run, Joe, Run.
2
So Joe Walsh, do you regret your vote for Trump? You should. You gave him a chance, you say. Is that how we elect a president? Give an unproven person a chance? Ludicrous. Stupid.
If people like you had just held your nose and voted for Hillary we would not be having these conversations. Would a Hillary administration have been so terrible? You may have disagreed with a lot of policy etc. But she would not have been burning down the country and the world.
Trump is a wild card. No one knows what he's going to do day to day, or even hour to hour.
You begrudged voting for an intelligent woman and instead put a buffoon into office. A man who doesn't read books, or anything else. He needs condensed versions of what's going on in the world, and those condensed versions would make Readers Digest look like War and Peace.
Didn't you learn from W. (Bush 43) that a man who is not curious, who doesn't challenge himself intellectually does not deserve the presidency?
No, people like you voted as a partisan. Not for the good of the country but for what, your party?
I hope we all survive the idiocy of you and your fellow Republicans/Conservatives etc. Because the rest of us (read 3 million voters) knew that Trump would be a terrible president but the Electoral College didn't work that way this time around (twice now in my lifetime, absurd!).
So come 2020 would you please encourage your followers to do as you do and hold their nose and vote for someone of intelligence, not party.
18
Fiscal responsibility is indeed something the electorate cares about just as long as it includes something that sounds, looks, & smells like reduced taxes (for me, that is, not you) and it doesn’t include any diminution in benefits or services (for me, that is, not you).
6
It would take the right challenger to have any chance of matching the suave, debonair Trump at the ballot box. Mussolini, Rodney Dangerfield and Don Rickles are all dead, so, Trump pretty much has it in the bag...
6
William F. Weld Republican ; former two term Governor of
Massachusetts ….is going to take Trump on in the New Hampshire Primary ; and Weld will take Trump down.
Just look William F. Weld up on Google....and learn why
Weld will help to restore the Republican Party to what
it once was.
3
Mr. Walsh I'm glad that you've finally awakened to what many of us knew long before Trump's election, and it's good that you can admit that you were wrong. But can you take the next step and consider that you are still wrong about a lot of things? Given that you host a radio show, it proves that you have deep self-belief in your own reasoning and world view, but I have to ask you: how has that really worked out for you and the world? So, in all earnestness, I again ask that you step back away from your preconceived ideas and rethink things.
For one, your belief about the deficit is completely wrong, and factual evidence should have already proven this to you. You and your Tea Party cohorts warned the sky would fall if the deficit wasn't reduced - even in the face of a massive need to spend as a result of the Crash of '08, which your misguided opposition led to us spending far less than we needed to, and left most Americans out of the recovery. Still, the sky didn't fall, and even as Trump ballooned the debt even higher, the sky still remains aloft. In fact, with the prime rate so low, we should be spending even more, finally getting the Infrastructure Initiative rolling, and investing in job creation, things that would greatly help the people you claim to want to help, but instead you harm them with your backwards thinking. And of course there is your continued support for people who fomented the evils that resulted in Trump.
Accuse Trump, but accept responsibility for him.
6
I suppose Mr. Walsh will vote for Trump again because he doesn't like Biden, Sanders, Warren, Harris, Booker or Buttigeg. And he wants to know why this country is going downhill under Trump?
11
Mr. Walsh has some agreeable thoughts here, but frankly, his words carry no credibility with me.
He may be completely and utterly correct when he calls Trump a "racial arsonist," but when the words are coming from a man who stirred racism with anti-Muslims rhetoric during meetings in his own district, it's a bit like the pot calling the kettle a bigot.
He is neither the first nor will he be the last to suggest a Republican primary contender. I agree America would benefit if a challenge happened, but hope that this declaration doesn't mean Walsh wants to be one of the challengers.
6
What about Sanford? He is a fiscal conservative and, despite his recent loss, is very popular in the South.
2
As JFK put it during his inaugural address. "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country."
So are conservative and moderate Republicans willing to put country before party? Based on the deafening silence to date, I suspect not. While I appreciate his current enlightenment, voting for any Republican in the next 3-4 election cycles is certain to bring about the fall of democracy, every federal institution we hold dear and the small matter of saving the planet for future generations.
This cabal of crooks and traitors need to be unceremoniously dumped from power and held to account. Nothing less is acceptable. As a citizen, it is your duty to protect the country and constitution from any foe, foreign or domestic. I consider the current iteration of the GOP and anybody who votes for them to be both. Trifling matters like public policy can take a backseat, for now, the salvation of the world is in your hands.
There is no other choice, sadly.
7
No Mr. Walsh. Way too little and way too late. The "Tea Party" did everything in their power to undermine president Obama as he tried to lead the country out of the greatest economic collapse since the great depression and improve the lives of his fellow Americans, and you demeaned, denigrated and demonized the president, Tammy Duckworth and the entire Democratic party. Once party was given priority over country, you failed to serve all of your constituents which is your duty as an elected official. You could have worked to improve the country as a whole, but by refusing to compromise and work together, you and your ilk laid the groundwork for the situation we find ourselves in today.
Your apology, such as it is, I find self serving and disingenuous. I can only hope that you can find it in yourself to examine your own motivations. As for the current occupant of the Oval Office, he will go down in infamy as should his GOP enablers.
14
It is never too late to do right thing. Admit wronging someone; apologizing for mistakes of the heart and head. The notable exception today is the GOP. Not enough space to trace the causes or evidence but the party of Lincoln is dead. Trumpified consumed by nonsense, policy offensive to traditional Republicans who failed to offer resistance. Worse, offered Congressional protection along with silence when speaking out mattered most.
How low can he go, questions linger finding Trump wallowing on the bottom, having plumbed the depths of decency a sworn enemy of the truth. A candidate from the right foolish to come late to reality. Offering Trump another faux victory insult not worthy of invitation. The best hope for traditional Republicans is Democrats crush Trump; reveal his faults provide repudiation of all things Trump.
Republicans can then put Humpty back together again with a fresh perspective on the size and composition of the tent, the wisdom of deficits created by tax cuts, climate change as a real threat, repeals without replacements for health care, and immigration reform with due regard for businesses with needs for laborers. Tariffs and sanctions as blunt instruments of foreign policy due for retooling in favor of diplomacy. Post Trump Republicans need to abandon disdain for compromise.
4
Trump IS THE RIGHT! They created him and they are him.
3
There's already a primary challenger - William Weld.
2
There better be a contender.
2
Joe Walsh is speaking in terms of reason and decency when it's obvious that these are not the rules of the day. Donald Trump lies to the American people regularly. There is a "news" media outlet spewing state propaganda. This man is "joking" about a 3rd and 4th term. He has run a real estate business and his white house using the tactics of a mob boss. Loyalty, lawyers and muscle. He has sidled up to other world leaders who do the same. He has stacked the courts with sympathizers and the senate with sycophants. A bill designed to protect us from foreign election interference was stillborn in the republican controlled senate. If he loses the next election in the polls he will use every tool in his bag to stay in power. He will discredit the election process and his opponents. He will challenge the results in court. He will incite his base to violence. He will create chaos and attempt a takeover in the midst of it. If you think these ideas are far fetched, you haven't been paying attention. We are already down the rabbit hole.
6
Any Republican who hopes to succeed Trump -- unless he/she wishes to continue the erratic downward spiral to oblivion and I am sure they are out there -- should step up and establish their willingness to challenge this occupant of the White People's House. To fail to do so now is to reveal to the voters of, say, 2024, that one was and remains a moral coward, an unprincipled betrayer of one's own purported values and those of the United States. There will be no honor there.
4
"I didn't vote for Mr. Trump in 2016 because I liked him. I voted for him because he wasn't Hillary Clinton."
Some credit is due to Mr. Walsh for this glimpse into the simplistic and dangerous depths of the right-wing reactionary mind. Really, it's not something that wasn't obvious. Also, he seems to imply that his perverse reasoning excuses voting for a man who was manifestly unfit for the office. Now, he seems to yearn for a capable adult to occupy the White House. Pathetic might only begin to describe it.
9
Wow after you and your tea party 'bothers-in-arms' do all you could do to deride any policy Obama brought forward - even if they made sense for America - now you decide it is in the best interest of America to vote Trump out. Trump's ignorance, ego-centric and treasonous actions have degraded America completely, where now we are in real trouble facing a real recession head-on with no allies to rely on, and no real economic plan of growth and sound economic sense to move forward with, and now you come out with this? I am sorry, but the tea parties actions helped bring about the ability for a Trump to be president. Now you guys need to step up much more then an Op Ed article, starting by impeaching McConnell followed closely by Trump!!
9
"But I soon realized that I couldn’t support him because of the danger he poses to the country..."
Too bad that you had not awakened to the danger of Trump prior to the election and prioritized country over party. Unfortunately, the majority of your Republican colleagues continue to embrace party over country. But the good news is that your vote for Trump did not count--am assuming you voted in Illinois--since the electoral college vote in Illinois went to Clinton.
8
I appreciate this full mea culpa. While a handful of prominent Republicans turned on Trump, I know of only one other who acknowledged his own participation in running the train off the rails, Max Boot.
Assuming Trump wins the Republican primary, I hope to see Joe Walsh commit to voting for the Democrat, no matter who it is.
9
Either John Kasich or Jeb Bush would be preferable to Trump. But are they willing to challenge the Republican Party in that way?
8
@Sunny — I think the only way another Republican could challenge Trump would be to split off from the mainstream and make an independent run. It would be risky since it’s hard to gauge just how much real opposition there is to Trump within the GOP, and therefore how much support such a candidate would have. As we’ve seen, most in the party aren’t exactly profiles in courage. Plus, an intraparty challenge of an incumbent is extremely rare — it’s not 1976 anymore with Reagan making a serious run against the establishment.
As I said earlier, the best chance the GOP had of stopping Trump — if it really wanted to — was before he rolled down that gilded escalator at Trump Tower in 2015. Now they’re stuck with him.
6
I loved Joe Walsh in the James Gang and The Eagles.
13
Hmm. Stock market down 800 points today. Recession presumed coming in 6-18 months? Perfect timing, thanks to the president himself.
14
Pre-Newt Gingrich and the Tea Party, I was a loyal Republican voter. Not for the past 20 years, though. The party has been moving further and further from its principles - free trade, balanced budgets, strong alliances, rational support of science, etc. I view Trumpism as a complete mis-read of what made this country great.
I'd welcome a primary challenge to Trump for the good of the country and for the good of the Republican Party. Recently I wrote to Mitt Romney begging him to take up the challenge. Yes, he'll almost certainly lose, but for the sake of the future of the party someone should go on record to point out the many ways in which Trump has violated its principles. And a lot can happen in 15 months - health problems, an economic downturn, war, .... Who in 1967 would have thought LBJ would decide not to run in 1968?
13
I remember Mr. Walsh's angry tirades in the media, when he was a Congressman. The raging rhetoric of the Tea Party set the stage for the demagogue who is now in the Oval Office. When you sow fear and the anger that comes with it, you are opening the door to the Furies. Democrats sow fear, too, but they want to include people, not exclude them. Jesus would endorse that. I'm glad Mr. Walsh has come to criticize someone, Trump, who is against everything Jesus stood for.
17
Because conservatives are delighted with Trump's unravelling of critical environmental protections in the name of greater profits, Walsh does not even mention his most lasting and irreversible crimes.
23
Republican voter approval of Trump's performance as president has consistently hovered around 90%, so a primary challenge to Trump is a non-starter. Walsh's criticisms of Trump are spot on, but the best strategy to keep Trump out of the White House for four more years is to encourage fellow Republicans to vote for the Democratic candidate, whoever it is, as George Will, David Brooks, etc. will do. Even given the obvious policy differences between the parties, clear-eyed Republicans will see that Trump is worse for the country than any of the Democrats who are running.
23
@Greg Weis
I'd happily vote for a Bill Clinton "we're all in this together"; "the era of big government is over" Democrat over the current buffoon in the White House. But four more years of Trump is preferable to the identity politics and Socialism being peddled by the current crop of Democratic Candidates.
A republican challenger is a good idea. That person would never win, but they could do enough damage to Trump to allow the Dem nominee to win. Attacks from within his own party will have more weight than attacks from Democrats.
I’ve heard there are republicans looking for a candidate with this exact plan, hoping that the Dem nominee will be someone moderate like Biden.
11
I'm glad Mr. Walsh has finally realized the truth about Trump. But it's kind of late. All of the faults you speak of were obvious to those who cared to look before the 2016 election.
26
Walsh says he is concerned about the debt.
Does he want to repeal the Trump tax cuts.
What spending does he want to cut.
While neither Social Security nor Medicare are part of the budget does he want to cut these programs and steal their payroll tax dollars to reduce the debt.
Will he reduce the bloated defense budget.
11
It's difficult under any circumstance to apologize so Joe Walsh deserves credit for that. I'd like to think a small but steady line would form behind him but unfortunately, not yet.
18
Annie Karni's White House Memo article today about how Republican criticism of Trump in 2016 had no effect on the Republican base points out the futility of having a primary challenger in 2020.
4
Mr. Walsh. If you honestly believed that Trump would be a better president than Hilary Clinton, your judgment is seriously flawed. Nobody should take any advice from you on any subject.
37
You reap what you sow, Joe.
32
I know very little about Mr. Walsh I like much of what he is saying. Trump is pulling down Republicans and the country with it. It is very simple and basic. Morals matter and Trump has none.
I voted Republican starting in 1968 until Obama. I decided to vote for Obama when McCain chose Palin as his running mate. I voted for him again in 2012 because he did a good job. I did vote for Hillary only because the alternative was worse as we are now experiencing.
Trump has done a great jub splintering the country with the help of Putin. Whether there was collusion or not does not matter. They worked in tandem. They continue to strive for the same objectives including fracturing our ties with Europe and inserting a wedge between us Americans.
Hitler's scapegoats were Jews and Trump's Trump’s are minorities and Democrats. He has riled the working class up against anyone who is not white and who is a Democrat. It has worked so far. Let us pray we wake up before it is too late.
God, please bless America again!
21
then why don't you run against him
12
Mr. Walsh,
You voted for Trump after hearing the 'Access Hollywood' tape, and the 2 dozen women who accused him of behaving exactly that way. After he was endorsed by David Duke, and after pretending not to know who that is, practically had to have his arm twisted to renounce the endorsement ("I renounce, OK! I renounce"). After he announced during a rally, "Russia, if you're listening..." (we, now know that they were listening, and doing a lot more than that). After he promised many times that he would release all of his tax returns in 'X' amount of time and repeatedly didn't.
You knew all this and more **before** you voted for him, yet did so anyway despite how racially divisive and un-American he obviously was and is still.
His absence of morality is now yours. Own it.
49
Spot on. Own your choice, voters!!Accountability is a hard pill to swallow.
4
Mr. Walsh....Would you go on Fox news?
13
Takes one to know one.
2
It is so rare to see someone who voted for President Trump express regret for that vote. Despite my manifold differences with Joe Walsh, the fact Walsh will do just that gives me hope.
11
Sorry. This piece was a poorly veiled non-announcement announcement of one sniffing for some support to be the primary challenger. No Sale. No tea baggers make the cut in my book.
8
“I’m on the right and I’m hugely disappointed that challenge hasn’t materialized”
And you are doing just exactly what about that? You don’t say you’ve filed to run against him. Why not?
I’m as liberal a progressive as you’re likely to find, but I would rather see anyone except Trump (or Mike Pence, Mitch McConnell or Lindsey Graham) in the Oval Office come January 2021, and for exactly all of the reasons you’ve outlined. He IS an exceptional danger to our democracy and to world peace. We need to remove him from office.
11
Wow, Mr. Walsh, thank you for speaking out! I suspect it wasn't easy as we all know about Donald's penchant for retribution. As a fellow Illinoisan, I did not support you or your negative Obama views in your campaign. However, this truly thoughtful column make me realize that people can change. Thank you for this.
7
The evangelicals who regard trump as a savior sent by their god to do their will won't ever turn away from him even for the most legitimate, qualified challenger from the right. Never. As others have stated: to save this nation from all of the trump induced calamities he lists, Mr. Walsh and others on the right and center will need to vote for whomever is on the November ballot opposing trump because that person is NOT trump.
12
If Jesus magically showed up from above and denounced Mr Trump, I believe a large percentage of Evangelicals would still stick with him. and up-vote every Twitter Trump posted, calling Jesus insulting nicknames. And cheer when Trump tells him to go back where he came from.
6
I believe what you say here, Mr. Walsh, is patriotic and true. However, what purpose do your words serve if they are published in The NY Times? Nothing you write in your piece is new or enlightening for readers of the times. It’s time that you, and other Republicans who feel as you do—to stand up bravely and speak out on Fox News and other conservative media outlets who serve as mindless propaganda machines for Trump. The only source of information for a lot of the Trump base are Fox talking heads because Trump (and Fox) have told them not to believe what they hear from anyone else. This country is in crisis. It’s time for members of your party to speak out and tell the truth. Might it cost some re-election in 2020 by angering the Trump base? Possibly. But, as Albert Camus wrote: “it is better to die on one’s feet than to live on one’s knees.”
24
One suggestion for Mr. Walsh. Begin each night of his radio show by shouting "You lie". At least in this case he would be actually mouthing the truth.
10
At least Mr. Walsh is admitting that his behavior and rhetoric helped lead to Trump in the White House, along with his vote. But all of this, the lies, the blind allegiance to party, the nose-holding vote, all point to one thing overall... Joe Walsh's stupidity. If anyone didn't see this coming a mile away, they are either uncaring of all consequences or too stupid to operate a fork. And Joe Walsh is horribly partisan on top of it, so he get's no sympathy from me. He's learning a lesson, but veeeeeery slowly.
You want to help, Joe? Vote Democratic. It's the only way out. Your party is the overriding problem, not Trump.
17
So run.
2
I see everything here except a commitment to vote against Mr. Trump in 2020, no matter who his Democratic opponent may be, just as you voted for him in 2016 because he wasn't HRC. Until I see that spoken sincerely, I'm sorry, Mr. Walsh, you remain part of the problem.
18
How do you get a Republican to care about the deficit?
Answer: Elect a Democrat.
26
Yet another deluded soul who fails to see that Trump is the GOP and the GOP is Trump. Don’t like it? Vote Democratic.
20
Too late. The GOP is doomed.
3
I'd be more impressed if this had been published somewhere where Trump fans might actually see it.
17
A contender would be good but Republican politics need major reform.
3
I respect and appreciate your sentiment, Mr. Walsh, but disagree with your solution. Given Trump 90% support from Republicans and a $200+ million war chest, a conservative contender will lose in a massive way. Trump will gain even more power. It's better to have his primary cakewalk and then have conservatives unite behind a Democratic challenger.
8
Joe Walsh and his listeners are part of the problem, not part of the solution.
16
So many great comments directly on point here.
Mr. Walsh does seem a bit disingenuous having been a Tea Party guy. After all it was his ilk that set the stage for Trump.
Actions speak louder.
My fear is that anyone Mr. Walsh would support would do the exact kind of things and tactics that we saw the GOP do from 2008 when Bush-Cheney ran the country into the ground to 2016 (obstruction, filibuster, win at all costs power hungry stuff)
Talk is cheap Mr. Walsh. When the GOP actually demonstrates a willingness to pursue policies that actually help all Americans (and not just the Red state mindless drones) and drop their pursuit of tax cuts for the wealthy and corps/ and deregulating everything to the detriment of the country we'll listen.
13
As anyone from Northern Illinois can tell you, Joe Walsh is a vicious far right conservative prone to making hateful and outlandish statements at the drop of a hat. I wouldn't believe him if he announced that the earth was round.
17
So why don't you do it, Mr. Walsh?
6
“We need someone who could stand up, look the president in the eye and say: “Enough, sir. We’ve had enough of your indecency. We’ve had enough of your lies, your bullying, your cruelty, enough of your insults, your daily drama, your incitement, enough of the danger you place this country in every single day. We don’t want any of this anymore, and the country certainly can’t stand four more years of it.” (Walsh NYT 8/14/19)
Mr.Walsh ,
Please permit this paragraph to be published by every candidate, Democrat and Republican( you should take the challenge) . It should be repeatedly presented on nightly TV ads as well as become the only rebuttal produced by the final candidates in the presidential debates to anything Trump says. Just pull a ‘Trump’ on him. No dialogue, just repeat the paragraph.
I am convinced that Trump as did Queeg in the Caine Mutiny, will fold and disassemble faced with this unchallengeable blast of the truth citing all his character flaws and policy failures . Once a narcissist’s thin ego wall is challenged repeatedly there is little reserve but withdrawal and implosion. Herman Wouk had it right.
Please consider being the challenger from the Right.
1
the solution is staring you in the face - run against him
lets take America back
1
What hypocrisy! Walsh’s recent contrition not withstanding, he has been part of the movement that made a demagogue like Trump inevitable. And by participating in the circus of talk radio, he perpetuates this very movement even as he is shocked, shocked, by its consequences.
15
Isn't Bill Weld challenging him for the GOP nomination?? Perhaps the GOP should actually back someone other than Trump but too cowardly!
3
Actions speak for themselves. Therefore closet Republicans who hate Trump, I just don't believe you. Because by not defying this President, you are enablers. Period. And just as guilty!
8
I think Hillary should re-register and enter the repub primary. Imagine the ticket sales for that debate.
3
Mr. Walsh wants to vote against Trump in the primaries so he can vote for "the Republican" in the general. That way he can satisfy his easy conscience and still get his Elephant Card punched.
6
You and I agree on very little public policy, I am sure. Thank you for recognizing we're both Americans with an interest in serious public policy debates, honesty, character, and loyalty to country above all else. Let's have a beer sometime. I'm sure we'd both enjoy the lively discussion and friendship.
2
What a breath of fresh air. I’m in shock.
7
Republicans will turn on Trump once they realize he has no chance of winning re-election and realize that they aren’t getting any more Supreme Court justices before 2020.
12
@KH
Firstly, self described Republicans represent 25% of the population. Secondly, they know that conservative state legislatures and state AGs, and sitting judges are all working overtime to make it hard/impossible for typical Democratic constituencies to vote (young people, minorities, poor people, etc..). Finally, the EC tilts the field in favor of the GOP (and this advantage increases every election cycle due to demographic change).
I think they're perfectly fine putting their money behind Agent Orange.
5
I used to think that people would turn against Trump once they realized that they were repeatably being lied to but now I realize that he is a cult hero telling lies that his followers want to believe so there is no way to dissuade his most ardent followers. The only hope is getting everyone else to the polls in 2020.
15
I reject Nativist politics and the arguments and efforts to oppose immigration with the same fervor that I reject the narrative that it has ever been America’s mission to help the poor and downtrodden in the face of its terrible treatment of the indigenous people of this land and the dependence on the institution of chattel slavery. This country has no self awareness. Striving to be a good person and to create a just world for all has nothing to do with supporting fantasies regarding nations, ethnicities, or borders.
1
All Americans are responsible for Trump. Democrats keep smugly saying he's a Republican problem. Hardly. If Democrats had nominated Bernie Sanders instead of one of the most hated politicians of our time, Hillary Clinton, we would not be in this mess either. If Obama had aggressively gone after the Russians rather than waiting, history might read differently, too. If the Democratic party had looked out for the middle class rather than the Wall Street crowd - constantly crowing how they are the party of the people and delivering zero in terms of effective solutions - Trump would have remained a barely disguised bald make-believe boss on TV. People in glass houses cannot throw rocks and all that. Democrats had better get their act together and find a candidate who speaks to independents, who always determine our elections.
2
@Joe
"Hated" Hillary got more votes than Trump did.
Now you can pivot to the electoral college, which we all know about and understand. The point remains that Hillary is not all that hated, really.
14
You lost me at “should have nominated Bernie”
11
@Joe Bernie wasn’t a Democrat, just a faux Democrat.
6
All that is REALLY needed is for these disillusioned Republicans to vote for the Democratic nominee! I guess their courage and decency just don't extend quite that far......!
12
I’m sorry that it has taken Trump’s lies, incompetence, hatefulness, and divisiveness for Joe Walsh to learn to change his tone, focus on policy, and basically just be a decent human being. However, better late than never, I suppose.
6
So in order to get right wing judges onto the Supreme Court and tax cuts that will ruin our economy, you were willing to vote for someone totally unqualified to be president. It is Republicans like you who have destroyed the Party. You deserve to go down in history with Trump as people who tried to destroy our democracy.
22
I, too, want my conservative friends and neighbors back. Talking to them is like trying to help someone who joined a gang, a cult, or an abusive relationship. Their abusers and corrupt leaders spin the lie of "us vs. them", "everyone is just as bad or worse then me" and "I'm the only one on your side". A healthy political party / leader / relationship isn't afraid of challengers, because it can stand on its own two feet, with values beyond unquestioning loyalty.
I would love to see a conservative challenger really advocate an equitable and educated vision of the country. Start repairing the conservative image by rejecting hate. Maybe more to be said for supporting community, family, private charity, small business, free market competition, public health & safety angle on environmentalism, privacy protections, reform on runaway prison spending and unbalanced corporate tax breaks, equal access to the American dream based in hard work. Show us you've got ideas that can compete in the marketplace on their own merits - beyond racism, greed, and aggressive cruelty.
I consider myself an independent, but let's be real. The reason the Republican party is never getting my vote isn't necessarily because of policy ideas - it's because they've hitched their wagon to white supremacy, misogyny, homophobia, and a cult of personality that exults lies and authoritarianism. As long as that's the case, any policies I might be interested in are a little bit of lettuce served on a glass salad.
10
I clicked on this because I thought it was written by the rock star Joe Walsh, who once memorably sang "Vote For Me."
4
What we really need is a conservative 3rd party candidate for all the republicans who are exhausted and disgusted by trump but who can’t bring themselves to vote democratic. Running as a republican would do nothing since the party has become so corrupt.
Of course we won’t get one because that is how tightly controlled the Republican Party is. Power is all.
2
I give you credit for coming out of the closet now. Better late than never. I also know you were very much aware that the resposes you received would be less than welcome from most of us.
Now that we have that out of the way. Get time on Fox. Convince your peers. Build a movement. Share your courage with other "conservatives". I still think that there needs to be a considerable amount of soul searching to do in regards to the bipartisan attitudes that you still carry based on your comments, but I for one, welcome any and everyone who will fight this man and root him out before he destroys this country.
This was a decent start. Prove to this country that you mean it by by walking through the fire that it is going to take to get him out. Please. It is not too late.
11
Joe Walsh is a fraud. Trump’s personal history was as clear as day long before the 2016 election. Whatever one light think of Hillary Clinton and her politics, she was eminently more qualified for the Presidency than Trump, and far less likely to cause extensive damage to the country. Unfortunately, Mr. Walsh is claiming to see the err of his ways just before the ship goes down. Hopefully, he, and all his Republican followers and Right Wing deplorables, will go down with it.
19
Roget's Thesaurus needs a new entry for coward: "Republican Congressman". None of them are brave enough to stand up to Donald Trump -- they will get tweeted and probably not be reelected.
"Republican Congressman" is also an antonym for "Patriot". They would eviscerate America to keep their jobs.
6
“Every immigrant displays more courage than nearly every member of our House and Senate.” Particularly the Republicans. But not limited to that group.
3
I appreciate that Mr. Walsh has seen the light. But I wonder if he was still in Congress and running for another term, would he have written this essay?
12
I don't have contempt for trump supporters because they voted for trump in 2016. I have contempt for them because they will not hold trump to the same standards ethics, decency and patriotism that they would hold any other POTUS.
16
I cast my first presidential vote for Ronald Reagan and had a solid Republican voting record through Romney. I am now a Democrat and will never return to the Republican Party, nor will I vote for any Republican. The Republican Party is now the party of Jordan, Gohmert, and Gaetz, as opposed to George H.W. Bush, Colin Powell, Bob Dole.
19
Trump is unpopular nationally, Mr. Walsh, but he is not unpopular within his party. Thus, he will not invite a strong primary challenger.
I sympathize with you, Mr. Walsh. Really, I do. Political homelessness hurts, particularly in an age of such deep tribalism and partisanship. But I think that rather than regretting how Trump is giving Republicans what they wished for, you should be regretting what they wished for.
13
While Mr. Walsh's conceptual thought process is correct and perhaps even hopeful the unfortunate truth is that he is applying rational though to a political party that is no longer rational. The "Grand Old Party" has lost its ability/will to differentiate between right and wrong, good versus evil and morality versus immorality. It has in a very real sense become the party of amorality.
Without a moral compass the party is spinning like a spacecraft that has lost its gyroscope while the commander is laughing his head off, not because it is funny but because he turned the gyroscope off and has lost the ability to assert any kind of control over his mental functions.
Rational and moral beings would never have tolerated the erratic, irrational and amoral behavior that has become so commonplace and that they now embrace, using their own irrational explanations to cover up their complicity.
Until someone (or a group of someones) stands up and actually does something to demonstrate that rational and moral thoughts once again are in control, the GOP will wither and atrophy., and must also shoulder the absolute responsibility for enabling Trumpism and the reign of this irrational President.
6
I do not do"talk radio" and I am unfamiliar with Mr Joe Walsh but I wonder who this unnamed challenger from the right might be,and how that would be better in any way. It was the Republican right wing and right wing media that got us into this mess. They are the ones who need to pay the bill coming due.
6
Maybe Gov. Charlie Baker will heed the call. Massachusetts feels oddly like a bastion of political sanity these days.
Mr. Walsh poses and interesting question regarding a Republican challenge to the President in 2020 but his timing is off. Regardless of a primary challenge now, Mr. Trump is the odds on favorite to prevail as the Republican nominee. So for the Republican aspirants to the White House the view shifts to 2024 regardless of the 2020 primary or general election outcome.The more interesting question is Mr. Trump's impact on that future and those aspirant.
Given the silence and tacit acquiescence from Republican Senators, Representatives, and Governors is who will run a wide open primary in 2024. This generation had a rendezvous with destiny and said nothing.
No one in these groups (e.g. Cruz, Rubio, Kasich, Bush, Romney, Haley, et al.) had the courage and the moral backbone to speak out in opposition to any of the misguided policies, dangerous acts, disastrous appointments and questionable activities (NATO, Paris Accords, Iran, North Korea Mexico, ad infinitum) coming out of this White House.
This rising generation of Republican presidential aspirants will face a fundamental question. What did each of you do do to change the course of this historically aberrant and disastrous presidency?
They have no answer.
They are Dead On Arrival. The year, 2020, 2024 or beyond doesn't matter.
7
Trump as the nominee presents the best chance of a Democrat sweep in 2020. A truly conservative Republican candidate would provide a formidable challenge and serious difficulties for Democrats. Could even salvage a Republican majority for the future, which Trump is going to destroy.
What do you mean "Truly Conservative"? If you mean, absolutely Christian in ideology, opposed to science, opposed to abortion (or family planning anyway), opposed to the separation of church and state, opposes to women in power, opposed to minorities in power, and continuing a male dominated ruling class, that isn't going to happen.
2
I was hoping it would be Joe Walsh from the James Gang.
Still, the opinion is correct. Someone -- other than Weld -- should run against President Trump in the primaries.
5
I never thought I'd have anything in common with Joe Walsh but I definitely agree with him on this
8
Yes, let's face the truth of what the Republican party has unleashed in Trump? Now they say "Enough, sir"?
"Enough, Sir"? Enough, now as the world looks on the U.S. with pity, derision and alarm?
The press has listed the thousands of lies Trump put out since he took power. Now the media must list the lies of the GOP over years.
Republicans have dominated. They set up warped norms, so that the slightest push for our govt to protect citizens, and redress our grievances, was simply labeled, left wing liberal big govt interfering in 'FREEDOMS'. The media repeated this distortion without much argument, as just the clash of politics.
The GOP and it's state media FOX, prepared the soil for Trump to grow, in close cooperation with mega donors who market politics to the nation.
If they keep power in their present hypocritcal state, our democracy, security and safety will all still be at risk, even with Trump gone.
The compulsive Trump blatantly lies daily. But the GOP has lied for years, creating inequality, fanning the flames of racism and injustice, only with more calculated, subtle distortions.
17
The only Republican who would have a chance of winning the general election in 2020 -- just a chance, mind you -- is Nikki Haley. Trump will go down and take the GOP with him.
5
So someone whose lies are so numerous he can't be trusted, who ballooned the deficit, who imposed tariffs that are a tax-increase on middle-class Americans, who is a "racial arsonist," who sows racial division, who encouraged Russian interference in the 2016 election, who is at war with our federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies, who embraces tyrants abroad and embarrasses our allies and who poses a danger to the country is preferable to Hillary Clinton? For Pete's sake, what did she do to you? The stench emanating from Donald Trump has enveloped the entire Republican Party, with its ongoing attacks on science and the truth. Anyone running on the right of Trump is going to have a difficult time gaining respect from the majority of Americans.
18
The only Republicans with the courage to stand against the Trump, are those who aren't running for election. While I applaud your principled rejection of the corruption and racism, along with your tepid regrets for stoking the fire, what you have yet to contend with is the utter failure of Republican policies. The so-called fiscal responsibility has been exposed as a complete scam. The opposition to healthcare was built on disinformation. Climate denial required the rejection of science. There may someday be a place for a reasonable conservative policy perspective, but today's American Conservatism is rotten to the core.
16
Too little, too late. You and your tea party pals sold this country out for power and wealth. Now you want a seat at the table when the Democrats fix it. I hope they have the backbone to tell you that the big-tent the dems are putting up isn’t big enough for those who put this country on the brink. You’ll still reap the benefits of the better nation we build, but you can rest assured that the only role you played in that process was opening the electorate’s eyes to the folly of your policies. My hopes and prayers are for your continuing irrelevance.
11
This is not the same Joe Walsh who wrote the lyric, “Bases are loaded and Nixon’s at bat. It’s time to change the batter.”
A sane, qualified, traditionally conservative Republican could wrest the Republican nomination away from Trump.
He or she would be a hero to the party, the country, and go down as a person who changed the course of American history.
The downside is, if the challenger pummels Trump in the primary, and if Trump retains the nomination and loses, the challenger will live in infamy among conservatives and his name will be mud.
But if a traditional conservative won the nomination, I do believe he would have a better chance against a Democratic nominee with far left proposals (whom I favor).
In the next year, the economy will go downhill, there will be an international incident or war, or more domestic terrorism. Trump will lose the anti-hate vote, and the election.
I sincerely believe Mitt Romney could win. Romney could be like Brigham Young leading his people to the promised land, plus gentiles.
1
Mr. Walsh impresses with a willingness to take responsibility for his scheming past; he consciously ignored the truth to advance his career and politics.
When the Republican right, soon to be decimated by their current short sighted 'Trump Play' discover like Mr Walsh that the goal did not justify the means, one can only hope they purge the corrupted fools who took them down the road as well as those who turned a blind eye. Both groups bear full responsibility for this kind of unpatriotic treachery.
8
The Republicans, meaning most of them, who stand by quiet to his insanity and no better than he is. Mitch being the ring leader and biggest offender/coward.
Republicans should be drafting a qualified candidate even if it is done behind the scenes. Trump plays like that.
Everyone know how unqualified he is. This should be a no brainier.
3
So what's your plan, Mr. Walsh?
2
If Tom Steyer is serious about running, rather than just puffing and pumping up his own platform and ego, then he should run against Trump as a Republican, not enter the race now as a Dem.
5
It’ time to replace that lier in chief Trump. However, all Republican representatives who are reluctant to condemn him and his policies should go away too. We need high moral leaders rather than corrupt cowards.
5
“Barack Obama was president then, and it was easy for us to rail against runaway spending and executive overreach. “
Let’s see, you tanked the economy and we had to spend billions to keep it from going fully under. You blocked every helpful bit of legislation and then got mad that he found a way around you.
It’s always easy to be terrible at something.
16
Just a person who understfands how government works. I think many indipendent voters would vote for another person in the primaries. Love to see a young candidate from the Bush family.
I really do not think voters love him. The problem, as I see it, is that the Republican Party has supported him to try to keep the party in power. As a long time republican I believe that game is over and incumbent senators and congressman of the party look like idiotic lap dogs. They must go and the Republicans as a party may face the same fate. Such a mean, uncaring party has never existed since the fascists regimes.
7
A challenger will not matter as Trump will not debate him/her. He will marginalize all non-Trumpers. He has already decided not to debate the Democratic nominee as well. Why bother looking like fool? He will call them tools and say it is not worth his time to debate. "I'm the President, too busy for fools."
5
I was never a staunch partisan and have never been registered with any party, but I used to regularly vote for Republican candidates. Since the Tea Party fiasco the Republican Party and its members have been slipping away from my positions. Now, with Trump, the thought of Republicans and the party in general turns my stomach. And, I sincerely question the true education and intelligence of family and friends who parrot Republican talking-points that I know to be inaccurate. Our systems, economic and otherwise, are surviving because of a brilliant design and wholly in spite of Trump. He deserves no credit for any truly positive circumstance. Even the ‘positive’ things he has been a part of are only short-term and will turn destructive before the end of the next decade if they are not quickly remedied.
5
Trump has always been Trump. I'm not buying the argument that you gave him a chance and he let you down. You put party over country. Thanks a lot!
15
"But the president is more vulnerable to a challenge from the right. I’m on the right, and I’m hugely disappointed that challenge hasn’t yet materialized."
Why don't YOU run, Mr. Walsh?
8
I always appreciate the NY Times' inclusion of conservative politicians and commentators in the opinion section. But Joe Walsh? What is the point of giving serious consideration to the comments of such a right wing showman and political outlier? He gains the credibility afforded him by the NY Times' reputation; the opinion page loses room for more sensible conservative voices. Do we need to be reminded that there are radical Republicans to the right of Trump? I don't.
11
If the economy slides into a recession or even a downturn Trump is in serious trouble as that is the only issue he can run on. Acting like TV reality star as a president issuing racists tweets and remarks attacking war heroes , black athletes ,black and brown congress people have turned off most voters. Trump has attacked our close allies while fawning over dictators as he wants to rule America has one. If the economy turns down Trump will have nothing to offer except to white nationalist and GOP politicians will slow walk away from him.
5
As if Trump’s rousing of bigotry and xenophobia had not been fully on display during the 2016 campaign. That’s a big part of what his base loves him for. BTW Bill Weld is a libertarian, not a centrist, and there is not much much of a mass market for that, since people want to keep their Social Security and want affordable health care. Hillary Clinton was a centrist, and this piece fails to explain why the author preferred someone as contemptible as Trump to her.
14
Mr. Walsh, it’s nice to hear you finally see the truth about Trump. Also, before I get to my point let me say that voting against someone is always terrible and you should have known better. Even before he was a candidate most knew knew Trump was wacko. So, if you’re unhappy with the current state of affairs all you have to do is vote Democratic. You can even keep it secret if you must. Besides, what about Trump’s Republican cohorts? You didn’t mention the voiceless and spineless Republicans in the Senate and House. Do you want to axe them too? After all, they follow Trump around like lemmings. Trump disgusts you ok but he’s got his base which you and other conservative talk show folks have helped solidify. So where do you really stand Mr. Walsh? You do not engender one iota of trust. You have a case of mambee pambee politics.
11
Gary Johnson and Jill Stein also were not Hillary Clinton. Get this - They also were not Donald Trump. I didn't vote third party, but your defense for voting for Trump is as weak as this. I imagine if I were a hardcore fiscal conservative, I would've stayed home rather than vote for Trump. His undesirable traits were on full display prior to the election. No excuses for voting for him.
14
@Sorry, but staying home is never a good option. Even when all the candidates seem bad, one candidate is always a little better than the others. It's up to the voter to figure out which one, and then go and VOTE.
1
When you consider how radical the left has become and the things they would like to do to redistribute the nation's wealth from those who have earned it to the undeserving, you would have to vote for Mr. Trump--even if he was Quasimodo.
1
@Ronald B. Duke Those who have earned it like . . . the Wal-Mart heirs, the Koch brothers, Rebekah Mercer?
Congratulations for coming to your senses. When you do the same with respect to people like Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell I may actually give you some credence. But then all you’ll be is as politically enlightened as me and everyone who’s been voting Democrat all our lives.
7
Mr.Walsh,
If it were not for your affiliation with the genesis of the Tea Party movement, I might listen to what you have to say.
9
Mr. Walsh--you of all people should know better that the Republican party is too scared and cowardly to challenge Trump. The moderates are leaving Congress, and the conservatives are embracing Trump as if he were their own mother. The Republican party is dead--you helped kill it by spreading rumors yourself, as had many other conservatives, and Trump is a product of your own making.
9
Mr. Walsh said that "he had doubts about President Obama's truthfulness about his religion". In a country that has the separation of church and state as one of its basic tenets, why in the world would he care about his religious beliefs? That subject is another republican dog whistle that has weakened our democracy. Furthermore, to believe that there is ANY kind of Christianity or care for his fellow man from trump is ludicrous. Mr. Walsh says that he's realized in the last 2.5 years that trump is racist, etc. If you were listening and actually following the campaign, you would have known from the beginning that trump does not and never will represent any American values or rules of democracy. I can't give you a pass, Mr. Walsh, no matter how many mea culpas you voice. Our country is the laughingstock of the world and we are more severely divided than every before. The very fact that you voted for him because you "didn't like" Hillary is repulsive. When Americans vote for president, we should be electing the most experienced person to be president. Instead you voted for the person that had no government experience, several bankruptcies, numerous affairs, money schemes to defraud banks, verified acts of racism toward tenants and a reality show on TV (as if that qualified him to be anything at all in government!)! trump, for decades, proved he lacked any American values at all! You reap what you sow Mr. Walsh!
12
Anything to expose his weaknesses and hate before the Republicans who would vote for him.
I am a conservative Republican who has never, and will never, vote for Trump. I would be delighted to see Nikki Haley become president. But let's face it, politics is still the art of the possible.
I started following Joe Walsh when he called out the president for siding with Putin over our own intelligence community. I still vehemently disagree with the majority of his policy stances and I know this because I looked back at his record when I started following him. I think the fact that he’s referring to his own personal attacks as the foundation for the incendiary statements we see by the president today, as a great sign for the potential self reflection Trump can cause.
While I agree with many comments that voting for Trump because he wasn’t Hillary was a horrible idea, it’s absurd to reprimand Walsh now. He clearly wants a new candidate, a new president and wants to see some dignity restored to this country. It’s these types of conservatives that liberals should reach out to and say look in the general election get some conservative swing to the democratic nominee, because we need to get America back to normal and that’ll be so much harder with four more years of Trump.
What conservatives like Walsh want, is to bring back American values and decency to our politics, take back control of their party, and restore America’s reputation abroad. This can’t be done unless Trump loses in 2020.
And if you’re wondering why as a liberal you should give competent conservatives control of their party, it’s because if you truly believe in liberal values and policies, you should also believe that you can beat the real Republican Party policy to policy.
3
Mitch McConnell poses just as much danger as Trump. Vote him out. We need a democratic majority in both the Senate and the House for the country to survive.
12
Good luck finding a serious GOP challenger. They're all scared to death of Donald Trump. Those who aren't don't seek re-election. Like John Boehner said: "There is no Republican Party. There's a Trump Party."
7
Joe's all talk. He will either vote for Trump again or not vote at all. He says Trump is a danger to us all, but his love of guns will keep him from ever supporting a democrat.
8
This column is a rather large free advert for a radio show.
Not only does Mr. Wals show himself to be a man of slight intelligence ("I voted for Donald Trump because he wasn't Hillary Clinton") he doesn't even have the guts to run that campaign. Afraid of the ratings hit, perhaps?
I wonder if the Smithsonian has the last Principled Republican along with the last Carolina Parakeet and Passenger Pigeon.
12
Well written and the honesty is refreshing coming from the Right. The Republican Party has trumped itself right out of any rational discussion of the needs of the country by its slavish and constant curtseying to Don the Con.
3
Republican policy since Nixon's first administration has brought our nation to where it is today—teetering on the edge of civil discord not seen since the civil war.
Trump is a manifestation of thrity years of Rush Limbaugh's radio broadcast.
Trump is a by product of Roger Ailes' perfidious FOX News operation.
Trump was brought to life as our nation's first caudillo by Koch Industries'—the standard barer for the John Birch Society in the 21st century—Tea Party who sent the bolt of lightening to Trump's political electrodes and animated the grotesque now occupying our Oval Office.
The Republican Party has no way back and Walsh's words speak to their recognition of this.
7
Everybody says someone should run a primary campaign against Trump (not it!). If you're not announcing your candidacy here, what's the point?
Mr. Walsh voted for a terminally flawed candidate out of sheer hatred for the opponent. Now he's complaining that all he sees is hate and wants people to listen to his great new idea on how to save a country he helped destroy with his hateful vote. I was out in the streets protesting against the Iraq war in 2003. Had a lot of Republican friends angry with me and laughing at me. 5 years later, they complained about the war, thought it was a bad decision, but not one apology from them. I know quite a few who, like Mr. Walsh, voted for Trump because they hated Hillary Clinton (thanks to decades of Clinton-bashing narrative). Now they complain about Trump but don't seem willing to admit they caused this problem.
I am tired of hearing people, who have been on the wrong side of every major issue for the past 30 years, finally realize they were wrong but then expect that other people should still listen, rapt, to their opinions on what's what. Maybe it's their turn to listen, and listen well. They might hear, today, the ideas they will come to agree with, after much failure, in a decade.
6
A solution to your problem, Joe, is to vote for the Democratic candidate.
7
I'm pretty sure he'd blow a gasket if there were a primary challenger in the Republican party. At this juncture, he can't even tolerate someone disagreeing with him on a plate of salad.
5
Hillary Clinton was a horrible candidate that helped make Trump look like a decent alternative. People who voted for Trump in 2016 can justify their choice, in 2020 any vote for Trump will be for a lying incompetent racist crook. If Trump is on the 2020 ballot Republicans WILL LOOSE a fair election.
Trump's only hope is that there are enough crooks and cynics in the government to turn a blind eye to foreign and dark money funded undermining of our democracy.
To put it another way, the only way Trump wins in 2020 is to destroy democracy itself in our country. The scary thing is he might have enough violent lunatics on his side to do it.
@Jeff
Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes.
If Republicans lose the election, they will be getting what they deserve. I hope the Trump Toadies up for re-election also lose their Senatorial and House seats, as well.
7
Hillary was a horrible candidate who won the debates and was then torpedoed by the FBI.
1
Mr. Walsh states "I didn’t vote for Mr. Trump in 2016 because I liked him. I voted for him because he wasn’t Hillary Clinton." He then gives us a laundry list of all the reasons he no longer supports Dumb Donny John.
Mr. Walsh all of those characteristics were on full display well before the election. But hey; at least he's not Hillary Clinton.
It never ceases to amaze me just how many knots the right is willing to tie itself into in the relentless pursuit of absolute power. The Republican Party has no credibility left and absolutely no claim to American values. You are all as shameless as the President. I'm glad that some are finally speaking out but Mr. Walsh, this mess is all on you.
10
Like far too many ex-Trump supporters, Mr. Walsh gives the appearance of apologizing for voting for Trump without actually doing so. He says he voted for Trump because "he wasn't Hillary Clinton", but he stops short of saying he now realizes that he should voted for HRC over Trump. He says he gave Trump "a fair hearing" and "the benefit of the doubt", but he offers no explanation for why he would or should have. Trump has behaved exactly as anyone who's observed him over the years would have expected. Why did Mr. Walsh fail to realize this only once it was too late?
I realize that Mr. Walsh has conservative listeners and his radio show livelihood to preserve. That is likely why he was so careful with the boundaries of remarks. But if he really wants to help at least some others see the folly in a vote for Trump, he needs to fully denounce the vote he cast in 2016 and his rationalizations for casting it. He needs to take an unwavering stand that could inspire others to follow, despite the risks it may pose to his ratings. Otherwise the rest of his words will simply ring as somewhat hollow and self serving.
5
There is a direct line between Joe Walsh and Donald Trump. Joe Walsh helped create the atmosphere in which Donald Trump could be elected president and he even voted for Trump. Now he's complaining? Vote for a Democrat in 2020 if you are so concerned about Trump rather than pining for a Republican challenger from the right.
9
Trump already has a major challenge from many opinion columnists, media, democratic candidates who want the nomination of the Democratic party are basically running against Trump instead of their own likely nominee Joe Biden. Joe Walsh why don't you be a contender from the right. I will tell you why? Know one wants to be a lamb to sacrificed or a clown to be laughed at. Politics is not fair play is down right dirty. One would have thought that any of 16 contenders besides Trump would run against Trump but they are not. Why not? Trump is doing for the Republicans what a good Democrat would do for the Democratic party toe the party line.
I am independent and I would have liked an independent choice. I was very briefly excited when Howard Scholutz the Coffee guy was making a run but he fizzled out too and that was not for any financial reasons.
The desperation and depression of those suffering from Trump derangement syndrome (TDS) is quite substantial and understandable for reasons best known to the people affected by the pandemic of the TDS bug but the ground reality is that a viable alternative has still to emerge. The front runner of the Democratic party Joe Biden will be a disaster for America and the world. The state of the Union of the USA will be the overriding reason for electing our president and in the end a known devil with a proven record of being a president without wrecking the country will be an attractive choice.
1
The only “derangement” is on the part of those who delusionally call themselves “independent” while slavishly defending Donald Trump.
4
Hey Joe why don't you run. You're articulate and understand traditional conservative policy positions. I don't agree with any of them. However I agree with you that Donald Trump is unfit to be the President of the United States. So --- Run Joe, Run.
4
Former Rep. Walsh, like all Republicans with a conscience, speaks out after losing the power that hinges on silence, acquiescence and obedience to all of Trump's evils.
That power must be very intoxicating indeed -- but boy what a hangover.
5
There is no one there, Mr. Walsh. You see there problem is that almost no one on the right really believed in fiscal restraint. No one really cared about executive overreach. No one on the right cared about the Constitution and original intent (see for example the outcome of the 2000 election). All any of you people cared about was winning, by any means, and power. And you have stuck US with trump. You are responsible and now you cry out for someone to bail us out. YOU own this disaster. And when the clown you have made President crashes the world economy, YOU will be responsible, try as you may, to avoid the truth.
7
The tea party movement itself is an astroturfed fraud movement financed and orchestrated by Koch money. Libertarian values and policy aren't conservative either from a Burkean perspective. Libertarian policy leads to further extreme control of government and the economy by the extremely wealthy. Libertarian policy would lead to a feudal state. Virtually everything owned and controlled by a few financial elite.
That said, Everything the author cited about Trump is true. That creature is not fit for office. He should be challenged from Every point on the political spectrum except perhaps the Nihilist party. He has no values, no morals at all. He has no actual vision for his empty slogan.
That he had not been challenged and not been rebuked by Republicans is a real indicator of their own craven natures and moral weakness. The excuse making by evangelical leaders who support him shows them for the grifters and opportunists they are.
Decent Americans, still a majority, have had enough. Certainly enough Trump. But enough of hypocritical politicians. Enough of big money corruption of politicians and the entire political system. Enough of being divided against their mutual interests of basic security in health care, retirement, work and wage, respect under the law, and control of government through honest democracy.
The answer is not more corrupt "centrist" politicians. They are the problem. The answer is the "extreme" decency of a Warren or Sanders policy. The real MAG.
3
You say
I didn’t vote for Mr. Trump in 2016 because I liked him. I voted for him because he wasn’t Hillary Clinton.
Well now you know. But I think it wouldn’t matter if it was Hillary or not, you would have voted for Trump
Too late
2
If all of the current crop of Republicans have remained supine while Trump has increased the budget deficit, taxed the middle-class through tariffs, encouraged racial animosity, embraced dictators, etc. why should any Republican ever be considered worthy of any office again?
5
I know I am spitting in the wind. I can't stop myself, and will be saying something like this to my last dying breath:
Mr. Walsh, please vote for the most qualified, sane and reasonable candidate, regardless of party.
Help vote out the "legislators" who refuse to cooperate and collaborate to get compromise legislation that represents the best thinking of both parties.
That is the patriotism I am looking for in a candidate.
6
The case for a challenge from the right is certainly there, but why would any single Republican suddenly grow a spine and oppose Donald at this point when not one person including the author while in Congress has. It is easy to say someone else should do this. It is also unrealistic when the GOP is now the party of Donald.
4
This is am important and honest challenge that includes some needed introspection. That said, I would also like to see Walsh move beyond this call for a primary challenge to include a statement on what he will do if Trump is again the Republican candidate. In the last election he voted for Trump because he wasn't Clinton, despite the fact that even then it should have been incredibly clear that Trump was an unfit demagogue. So what happens in 2020 if Trump is running against Sanders. Who in that case will Walsh and others vote for? Is Trump completely unacceptable in all cases? Answering that clearly is really what is needed on from the right. Rejecting racism and hate should be more important than protecting other political goals, but so far the right has failed to make that clear.
3
This former Republican agrees with Joe Walsh on the need for a primary challenge vs. Trump from the right--but who are likely candidates to take that on, for the good of their country?
2
|
"Mr. Trump’s tariffs are a tax increase on middle-class Americans and are devastating to our farmers. That’s not a smart electoral strategy."
As a Red state resident, my observation is that Republican voters don't care how much Republican policies hurt them - they never see the connection anyway - as long as they can vote for the candidate who's right on race...and, Trump is certainly right with them on race.
10
Anyone who did not know how Trump was likely to turn out is too great a fool to warrant a hearing now. Hillary Clinton would have been better on every score the writer pretends to value, and that was obvious ahead of time to anyone who simply follows the news closely. Using Trump as a "no" vote on her was simply absurd, and as reckless and dangerous as anything Trump himself is doing.
15
your mea culpa is a little suspect. Kind of like McNamara's attempt to assuage his guilt in his book.
https://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/16/books/mcnamara-s-retreat.html
When I see you protesting the lies, deceit, and arrogance of the current administration in front of the White House along with a group of your peers then perhaps, maybe, I might start to feel like I want to identify as an american.
I am sick and tired of the selfish, arrogant, narcissistic, ignorant kleptocrats that are ruining our country......yes, you are one of them.
I once trusted, but no more. Trust takes years to build, seconds to break, and forever to rebuild. I guess we'll find out if you have the courage and wisdom to do so.
13
Republicans can indeed run against Trump.
I'd like to hear them asked hard questions such as:
What do you think about Mitch McConnell not bringing up some 220 House resolutions for a vote in the Senate?
What are your healthcare proposals? Would you strengthen the ACA? Or, what is your position on Medicare for All?
How would you solve Trump's immigration crisis?
What would you do about Russia interfering not only in the US elections, but in those in Western Europe?
What would you do about the nuclear test ban treaty with Russia that Trump has pulled out of?
Do you accept the fact that China (and Russia) are filling in the gaps that the US is leaving in terms of trade, economic assistance, etc. in the developing world?
How would you make the US a world leader again?
These are questions that Democrats are asked, and/or are addressing. Will Republicans be made to answer them?
10
No, President Trump doesn’t need to be primaries. The economy is doing much better than when he first took office. The courts have had lots of excellent judges appointed. He’s doing just fine, and should win the next general election.
Get back to me when you vow to vote for whoever the Democratic nominee is if Trump is the Republican candidate.
12
I am genuinely glad for your conversion, Rep. Walsh. But if you are looking for absolution, you are looking in the wrong place. Every single one of the reprehensible characteristics and behaviors you mention in your op-ed was on full display during the 2016 campaign, and well beyond that into Trump's life history. I can attribute your 2016 vote for Trump only to willful blindness. In this, you have a great deal in common with virtually every Republican member of Congress and the Senate. Meanwhile, our republic is aflame with the hatred Trump has enabled.
13
I applaud Mr Walsh for admitting to his mistakes during his life as a Tea-Partier. That so few other past and present Republicans can do the same points to some lingering pathology and not just to fear of primary challengers. Is it possible that so many office-holders are sociopaths? Entirely possible: 4-6% of the general population fits the DSM's definition of either Narcissistic Personality Disorder or Antisocial Personality Disorder, so why should we not assume that a disproportionate number of them enter politics (both as D and R)?
2
I was extremely disappointed with the choices of candidates for President in 2016. Neither the Republican nor Democrat were acceptable to me. Mr. Walsh makes an important point - the Republicans will lose the presidency if they continue to be the party of Trump. And both parties should think very, very carefully about who they will choose as candidates for next year's election. Could a third party candidate be electable in 2020?
1
No one can seriously challenge Trump for the republican presidential nomination. Voters love him, he speaks their language, he is fighting their fight, they believe they are winning. Trump is brute strength, Old Testament God, bending the country to his, their will. His voters don't care how he imposes their will so long as it is imposed. They don't care if they're hypocrites -- a win is a win. They finally have the champion they have been looking for. They will not abandon him for principles, values, morality -- too much is a stake to bother with these constraints.
574
@Heidi Z I could not disagree more. I do not think trump represents the majority of voters. And, I believe most of us now see through what he is doing, and understand how he is destroying our Democracy and selling our our country to the highest bidders.
108
@Heidi Z It would be a good thing for him to have a challenger even if they can't win just to show trump isn't actually republican and there is an alternative. This would especially be effective for those who voted for trump instead of Hillary.
78
@Heidi Z--Trump has never had the support of a majority. His has always been a minority government. His supporters are as loyal as you say, but his opposition has only grown since 2016. The mid-term elections showed that with more Democrats now in Congress, but I think 2020 will really make it clear. His base is fanatical, it's true, but the numbers just aren't there. Some red states are starting to show purple hues, and there's no doubt that he's facing problems.
110
I don't understand why any Democrat wants to be president.
Obama had to clean up Bush's mess of Iraq and the second "great" depression --you'd think he was handed a good economy from the lack of respect he gets.
Now we've lost so much of what made us proud to be Americans and live in very scary times with the dark sludge of the swamp Trump has dredged up.
Mr Walsh you could have voted for Kasich or another Republican as a protest vote.
12
"I didn’t vote for Mr. Trump in 2016 because I liked him. I voted for him because he wasn’t Hillary Clinton."
Gary Johnson, Jill Stein, Evan McMullen, and any write in candidate of your choice were also not Hillary Clinton, yet you didn't vote for them. You had plenty of choices but still endorsed Trump
Which brings us back to the main point...you are what you vote for, not what you allege you're voting against. When you vote for a candidate, you're effectively endorsing their entire platform and entire character. You may not LIKE their entire platform and character, but you have still endorsed those attributes with your vote.
2020 will be no different. Whatever 2020 Democrat is ultimately nominated, even Biden, Republicans like you will claim we're headed for your normal laundry list of straw men that you like to dole out: Venezuela like Socialism, with massive tax hikes on the wealthy, government controlled everything, open borders, big government etc...I was always told to judge people based on what they do, not what they say. Put your money where your mouth is and vote for someone not Trump next election, then I'll listen to you.
11
It'll never happen. The Republican Party has shackled themselves to this corpse of a Presidency and don't have the nerve or the common sense to unlock themselves. They'll go down together into the infamy of their traitorous actions.
9
Amen.
So the obvious question, Mr. Walsh: why not you? You've made the case. You claim to have the bona fides. So, step up to the plate, man!
3
It's too bad that voters equate a candidate's talent for campaigning with their ability to actually do the job they're campaigning for.
7
If Congressman Joe Walsh, an insurgent Tea Party Republican, can’t stomach another four years of Trump, it reflects the GOP mood, that Trump needs to be unseated, even if few dare to say so in public.
Indeed, the GOP can no longer protect Trump from primary challengers in 2020. More and more people realise what he has done to the country, another Trump tenure would be disastrous.
William Weld is one who has made his bid. But Walsh finds the former Massachusetts governor centrist. Mark Sanford of South Carolina, an outspoken critic of Trump, concerned about the growing federal debt and deficit, is another challenger.
No doubt more contenders will be emerging. They are just waiting for their moment to come forward.
7
I voted for Bernie in part cause he wasn’t Hillary. I voted for Hillary in part cause she wasn’t Trump, and for reasons obvious to the majority of Americans then, and to you now sir, you should have too.
12
Correct me if I'm wrong, but is this the same Joe Walsh that shouted, "You lie!", at President Obama during a State of the Union address? If so, could that be one of your regrets Mr. Walsh? Even if it is, you,sir, can take your rightful place as contributing to hateful, divisive mess we now find ourselves in. You are part of the problem, not part of the solution.
13
@TRA
Allow me to self-correct. It was Joe Wilson, not Joe Walsh who shouted at President Obama during a SOTU speech. I apologize to Mr. Walsh.
3
@TRA I thought so too, but apparently that was Joe Wilson.
So, Mr. Walsh, you have registered quite a long list of Trump's failures and shortcomings for NYT readers - all of them spot on. Have you mentioned a single one of them on your conservative radio talk show?
13
Anyone who could not see that Trump was unfit to be POTUS deserves nothing but scorn. It matters not who ran against him, he was and still is unqualified and incompetent. The evidence of his incompetence was overwhelming long before he rode down the escalator to a cheering throng of Trump employees and paid "actors". Trump is an extremely ignorant, narcissistic liar who has zero understanding of the present world or its history--George Washington's air force, anyone? How pathetic is that?
Trump is a world class con man and nothing more. he cares for nothing and no one except himself. If you voted for Trump, you were nothing but a gullible person hoping that Santa Claus was real. For goodness sake, wake up and see the man for what he is--an empty, dangerous suit. Don't vote for him again.
11
Well, that was interesting, Mr. Walsh. Especially the intertwining of your mea culpas with criticism of Trump.
I'm not buying it. Trump, with no challenger, means Trump flying around from rally to rally, when he should be working as President, (right?) spouting off the usual craziness, until it's clear who the Democratic nominee will be. And then he can have a clear target, which he loves.
Trump, without a challenger, means that the news stations are not going to give much coverage, or cover live, his rallies, because they are so predictable and it's easier to tape it and then just show the "highlights."
Trump, without a challenger, means that there's less to talk about on conservative radio that hasn't already been said a thousand times. Because, of course, nobody wants to go to hard against the GOP in Congress for doing nothing.
Sorry, Mr. Walsh, but I fear that You Lie.
4
Mr. Walsh, how about a right-wing 3rd party candidate to splinter off some of Trumps votes? That way the impact won't be so benign after the primaries end.
And Mr. Walsh, will YOU put country before yourself and convince your followers to vote for the candidate running against Trump? Will you cast your own vote that way?
8
The entire lying, colluding, enabling Republican party is tainted as far as I'm concerned. Is there a single individual in the GOP with the moral courage to choose public service over self-interest and challenge Trump openly?
7
I like the "enough" speech, if only there were a high profile primary challenger un-cowed "enough" to stand up to him and his base (there isn't). And I would add whining to the "enough" speech; enough of the whining. If parents can stand up to petulant children, why can nobody in his party take on this clueless, petulant child with a third grade vocabulary ? His popularity is overstated, I think. All he has is his core base and some shaky conservatives who will gladly flee from him at the slightest opportunity. Yet they won't take it. Amazing.
4
If they expressed absolute fidelity to their ideals, principles and values no true conservative nor anyone who calls themselves a true Christian could support now, nor vote for Trump in 2020.
If that occurs, there goes at least 50% of the mindless base he relies upon to support his authoritarian regime.
4
The GOP lost its moral compass when it co-piloted this flight into the Bermuda Triangle of politics that is this administration.
The combined support of key Congressional members is evident and deep, either tacitly by their silence or actively by dissembling the true impact of Trump policies. They sustain the mantra of "the ends justify the means" if it results in a win.
Over the last three years, there has been nary a brush of resistance against approving wholly unqualified candidates for key cabinet positions or active resistance to substantive oversight for blatant corruption. And now I hear the sounds of crickets from the GOP when Trump provides overt support for racism and white supremacy from the Oval Office.
I don't think a primary will solve this problem. Maybe if the current Republicans in the House and Senate defended decency and American values, they wouldn't need to be so concerned about being primaried. But if they cannot rise to that basic standard, then they do not deserve the office.
5
I don't listen to your radio program but in your newfound Renaissance I hope you are espousing these accurate dissections of trumps tenure in office loudly and often. Yes, words count and you have the power to change a lot of misconceptions. I might even turn on your show
6
Unfortunately, with climate change threatening our planet, a strict tea party, fiscal conservative at all costs won’t work. We all need to work together and think outside the box with public/private initiatives
4
It's highly improbable that someone who has a history of anti-humane extreme right agenda can now be trusted as a concerned patriot.
3
This would be a great idea, but I think that the problem is that the conservative movement has become so fixated on its 'enemies' that only the angriest and most hateful messages actually win.
If you were challenging government spending from the right, would you be willing to make a positive case for government, or would you keep saying 'government is the problem'? If you hate government, why not keep Trump? He hates everything!
The good news is that the American business community is starting to see recession and they're getting fed up with the chaos and lack of clear policies from Trump. Maybe someone will challenge Trump from a pro-growth perspective. If the Republicans won't do it, I hope the Democrats do!
4
Joe Walsh is not a conservative by any reasonable definition of that word prior to the 2009 emergence of the so-called Tea party. He is a far right wing buffoon and is as unstable as Trump. The TP was purely a reaction to the election of Obama, who symbolized a shift by America away from hate and white domination to something more in line with the principles it had always espoused but which had always been a lie. That loss was something Walsh and his TP fellow travelers couldn't abide. Today there are few real conservatives left; most everyone who claims he is conservative is in the TP mode, either an authoritarian hater of anything remotely humanitarian, a money/power grubber, or an ignoramus drone doing their bidding, all of them fearful of where America is going. Trump was their reaction to Obama, and hopefully last grab at power. There will be no one emerging from that swamp to take on Trump.
7
Mr Walsh, it is because of people like you that our nation suffers the worst presidency in its history. I have never listened to your radio show but I am familiar with the festival of lies and conspiracies that live on the AM dial. Please don't tell us that being on the right just means being fiscally conservative and seeking limited government. You and your tea party friends are standing for a lot more and a lot of people couldn't disagree more with it. That's why you didn't just leave Congress. You were voted out. Your dreams of a meaningful political force to the right of the GOP will never happen no matter how much hate is being spewed on talk radio.
8
"In front of the world, he sides with Vladimir Putin over our own intelligence community. That’s dangerous." It's not only dangerous, it's traitorous. When Republicans let Trump get away with his "would" to "wouldn't" dodge is when I knew we were in big trouble. True conservatives will have to sit this election out, or hold their nose and vote for a Democrat. True patriotism demands it.
5
NO hints at possible contenders, just the kind of bone crushing regret that comes with making a deal with the Devil.
Eight years of the Republican incessant, vicious attacking and denigrating President Obama, setting the stage for Berserker Trump as POTUS: an unmitigated national disaster.
Coming back from the abyss will be much more difficult than finding a GOP alternative to a Trump second term.
America’s two party dominated politics are a shambles that has been festering for decades. The road back to a functional political culture and governance will be far more difficult and traumatic than we even remotely realize.
3
I don't know too much about you and I am sure our politics differ although not as much as I might think. Still, I loved the last paragraph where you state We’ve had enough of your, among other things, "daily drama". I believe Trump said he pretty much wanted to turn his administration into a reality show with daily ratings which is a pathetic way to run a government but more pathetic is the fact that Graham and Grassley and Meadows and Jordan and 60,000,000 other people enable this. These people are...what a good word...let me think...deplorable.
4
Any Republican who isn't happy with Trump should support Bill Weld. Trump only has one challenger so far and there may not be another. Any Republican primary will come down to whether to support a white nationalist or not. Whether the Republican Party should be the party of white supremacy or not. If the Republicans do not want to be associated with the KKK, neo-Nazis, alt-right, etc then they should support a challenger to Trump who rejects the repugnant racist views of Trump and is willing to support a diverse country.
4
It was refreshing to read your words. You better than most, have some sense of why your colleagues are unable to move their submission to this “president.” Start leading. Perhaps you should be the challenger?
1
The Republicans largely support Donald Trump. Think about what that means. It means the Republicans support a continual and rabid and hateful liar, a racist, a tax cheat, a man so childish that .... I could go on and on. But the real problem is NOT Donald Trump. Donald Trump is merely a symptom of the Republican party. So no Mr. Walsh we don't need and don't want anyone ever from anyone that would be a part of the Republican party today.
5
@John
Anyone paying attention to the Trump rally rhetoric of 2016 could figure out who he was... Paying attention to the 90% of Republicans who approve of him today can tell you what the Republican party always was.
Hateful, shallow, self absorbed and anything but conservative, Trump is Newt Gingrich without any pretense of empathy.
3
You voted for Donald Trump because he wasn’t Hillary Clinton. Gee, thanks.
Tell that to your children and grandchildren when they find out Russia has vastly interfered with our democracy, when they find out North Korea writes beautiful love letters to our president and that makes our president happy. Explain your vote when public schools, natural resources, and endangered species are decimated. Try to tell your descendants why they will be footing the bill for billions of dollars of debt created by this president. When trying to explain what morals and respect are, have fun when you get questioned why we have a president who does not practice morality or respect. And when your young family members ask why they should hate people of diversity and love guns and those who use guns to murder innocent people - get down on your hands and knees and ask for forgiveness for voting for Donald Trump. After all, he wasn’t Hillary Clinton. What an explanation!
9
Mr. Walsh, please see my personal note I sent to you this morning. I agree with you fully.
You're right, Mr. Walsh, thank you, but you fail to mention that there's also an extremely strong case that this President has Obstructed Justice, accepted emoluments, and committed campaign fraud... and how many of your hyper-hypocritical colleagues have stood up for Impeachment? Just one, Justin Amash, who is no longer a Republican because of it. And these are the same people who thought, as I did, that Clinton's lies regarding a consensual sexual affair with an adult were worthy of impeachment. Ha ha! Clinton lies are nothing compared to Trump's.
Sadly, if your colleagues can't even get behind impeaching the most obviously criminal and destructive President in the history of our nation, then I seriously doubt they will get behind a primary challenger. You're right, Trump is no conservative, he's more like a mafia boss and all of your spineless colleagues are terrified of him.
6
Amen! That’s the talk that needs to come from the Conservative side. But it’s all talk until someone walks the talk. Let’s hear more voices like this and build the momentum to get someone there.
4
It's nice to hear a Republican tell the truth.
3
The Republican bar has been set so low that any conservative who speaks out against Trump gets their views published on the front page of the NY Times. A word of advice from an Illinois resident: before embracing and throwing your support behind Joe Walsh and his ideas, do a little research on the man.
7
Enough of your destruction of every norm of decency and now the latest destruction of the endangered species act. The only place Trump will take the world is to nuclear war.
2
You voted for a television personality not for a human being. You didn't vote for Hillary Clinton because she's a woman, simple fact. Now you are eating crow. I am working my hardest to get my peers to vote but with this catastrophe you've made my plea even that much more difficult.
2
The Republican Party today operates like a criminal organization. As such it is committed to running their godfather in the next election. In doing so, however, they will lose roughly 30% of their current membership that is currently holding on by their teeth.
1
Mr Walsh is the “You Lie” guy - is that correct? Walsh’s extreme republican partisanship and party over country is what had brought us here today.
6
A Leopard changing his spots? Sorry Mr. Walsh but your apologies come too little too late. Watching your almost nightly antics sneering to the cameras denigrating President Obama and everything else you cared too was enough. You lost for health reasons the voters were sick of you. A slick repackaging doesn't change the same old product.
6
Welsh must not have been paying attention, to put it mildly, to not notice that Trump was a disaster waiting to happen, when he voted for him anyway. If the choice is voting between someone who is solidly competent with whom you disagree and someone who is plainly unfit and a pathological liar, I would think that you should vote for competence or stay home.
1
what we desperately need is another Ross Perot to split the republican vote and rid us of this pox.
5
Mr. Walsh: Your Republican Party broke itself when it went with Trump. Anyone with an iota of historical knowledge knew him to be a corrupt, corrupting, narcissistic flim flam man, leaving trails of unpaid bills and welched on debts in his wake. Your "I was wrong" confession is not credible. You knew who you were getting and you voted for him. You and your party broke yourselves with Trump and know you own him.
1
You voted for him. You deserve what you got. The problem is, that inflicted him on the rest of us.
If you truly believe that a right-wing challenger is what's needed, then do it yourself.
OR you might establish as your personal goal to get the Senate Republicans to stop hiding behind Mitch McConnell and express their personal values, consciences and disgust.
1
Better late than never?
1
Mitt Romney, where are you?
You got more votes in your loss than Pump and Dump Trump in his win.
The GOP doesn't need a primary to get rid of Trump. It needs a spine. But the Republican Party long ago morphed into a spineless parasite ('round about Reagan's time) and no primary is going to change that. Mr. Walsh opines, "The only time a majority of my conservative audience has noticeably broken with the president is when he signed the omnibus spending bill in 2017 that ballooned the deficit. " That's because Republicans care only about money--not children, not country, not honor. A primary won't save the racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, homophobic creatures that vote Republican. God only knows what will.
2
Here the thing you missed: Trump is a popular President. You need to pay attention to sone of the folks outside of your circle.
I remember when you disrespected the office and the person of the president on live TV in front of the world. Have you apologized? In person? In writing?
Do you ever feel as if your disrespect towards President Obama paved the way for Trump and his style? I sure do, Joe.
Talk is cheap - are you going to run?
4
Fox News and Rush Limbaugh deserve a kick to the curb every bit as much or more so than Trump. Tea Partiers and the GOP have been content to let Hannity, Carlson, Limbaugh, Colter et al carry their water for them in buckets built from lies, bigotry, and the language of the White Power movement and now they profess “shock and dismay” at the predictable outcome: a White Nationalist
President that traffics gleefully in the same lies and conspiracy theories promoted by these radical right wing media folks.
Until such time when the GOP denounces these right wing White Nationalists and drives Limbaugh, Hannity, Carlson, Coulter et al off the air so they can no longer poison our body politic, we have little reason to vote for any member of the GOP.
4
He needs a primary challenge like he needs another mouth.
The republican party seems pleased with their president, and the evangelicals are too, but that is redundant.
Trump is beatable, and it would be very interesting to see a challenge from Kasich.
Any Democrat 2020.
republicans have failed this nation.
4
The question is if Trump is the Republican nominee, will you and your friends vote for the Democratic nominee, or vote again for this racist, sexist liar. Or will you stay home. The only way for the Republican Party to survive Trump is to disown him, and call him an aberration. But too many Republicans in leadership positions are on his bandwagon. The most startling thing of the past few years has been the willingness of people who know better to stick with him. It is also the most disappointing.
2
Joe would you be singing the same tune if you had won reelection?
5
so was the NYT offended by the comparison of a pet rock to #45, as I see my comment was squashed. I thought it added a little humor at a time it certainly needed. oh well!
3
There is no way anyone would dare run against Trump. He is a mean, vindictive, liar who would not even think twice about spreading rumors and conspiracy theories about such a person. He could open up an investigation of the person to spread the lies. Most politicians have some skeletons in their closets, which would become public.
Right after Epstein's death he rushed to spread conspiracy theories about the Clintons when it was he who was pictured with Epstein at Mara Lago and is the more likely confederate of the sex trafficker. He did nothing to stop it at his own place when he knew what was going on. What chance could a challenger have when Trump would stoop to the lowest and possibly illegal levels to rid himself of a challenger.
2
Write this editorial on Fox News where the right people need to hear it. Say it on your radio show every day. Good grief
8
Hey Joe, we need more than a mea culpa from you.
The damage that you did needs more than an ‘I’m Sorry’.
Your tax dodging and Tea Party ideology dissemination caused real damage. Much of our current mess can be directly blamed on the political environment that you influenced.
What are you going to do, Joe? This article is not enough.
5
What a morning and thanks NYT for enlightening us with this failed congressman and deadbeat father and husband's solution for the GOP.
What a laugh.
2
The small lip service you pay to your own indecency, your own incivility, your own -- let's call it what it is -- racism toward President Obama, is not enough.
Are you right about Trump? Of course. But I hope this experience -- finally seeing the slippery slope you started this country on -- is leading you to some serious self-reflection, sir. God knows you need it.
5
How hollow Mr. Walsh's words ring today. From insulting our military dead to asking a foreign adversarial nation to assist elect him, Trump demonstrated a long time ago his profound lack of qualifications to hold the highest elected office in the land.
Republicans are ruining this country. Period!
I work at an offshoot of MIT in Massachusetts. (All smart people, yes?) While at work, hearing the Dow took a tumble after a tweet from Trump directed at China I made a comment about the economy and Trump's nonsensical trade wars. I was immediately confronted by a co-worker. Apparently because I hadn't read ALL the history of trade between the US and China, I didn't know what I was talking about when criticizing trump for not understanding. When I brought up a couple of facts I was called an idiot.
This Social Disease that republicans have incubated, using Fox News, Conservative radio and most effectively on-line propaganda, is not going away without a fight. Facebook, Twitter and any public news organization needs to be held accountable. The first amendment does NOT give unlimited free speech protection!
2
We reach this level before the 2016 election, Mr. Walsh reached now.
Trump Wh is a soap opera with unprecedented scale, Ms. Conway came out and justified Clintons ordered to the execution of Epsteins. This story can be done only in telenovelas and soap operas. real-life doesn't have a buffer for this HRSCRP.
Trump clearly partied with Epstein in his residence with underage girls, Tomorrow a woman comes out and say, I was there and Mr. trump was there too explanation, How we can reconcile with the life is already full of moral hurdles. and yet Ms. Conway has the audacity to say Clintons ordered the execution.
We are done with this guy, ( i was vehement oppose Cheney -Bush ) I never said this word.
This is something you can only see in a lunatic asylum.
2
Challenging the incumbent is political suicide. However it does weaken the incumbent and the opponent of the other party has a better chance.
https://www.businessinsider.com/sitting-presidents-serious-primary-challenges-often-lose-reelection-2019-3
So Mr. Walsh, why not put your money where your op-ed mouth is. The challenge should come from the right, you are on the the right. Run, throw your conservative hat in the ring help your party elect a Democrat.
1
Republican donors have their tax breaks and are now in complete control of all federal agencies. Republican voters have racism and the daily assault against brown and black people - this is their bread and circuses. Isn’t this what you wanted? If not then maybe you are now a democrat. Most people who really love their country are.
5
You left out the pre-2016-election evidence of trump's racism, misogyny and sexual predation … which, one would think, should have been enough even for any "conservative" or "evangelical" to vote for Hillary ... no matter how 'distasteful.'
I guess that "to be" of 'tea-partying' mind is "to be" less than 'quick' on the 'up-take' -- and/or 'beyond' the influence of morality.
(If only you could 'pick' and could have as well and as 'righteously' as your namesake did on such as "Walk Away" and "Life In The Fast Lane.")
1
>The only time a majority of my conservative audience has noticeably broken with the president is when he signed the omnibus spending bill in 2017 that ballooned the deficit.
Pathetic.
3
A challenger from the right might annoy Trump in the primaries, but he will get the nomination, no doubt. The only way to get this liar, this racist xenophobe who is unfit for office (as you stated) out of the presidency is to vote for the Democratic nominee, whoever that is. And whoever it is will a hundred times a better human being than this man. My guess though, is that many "principled" conservatives will turn right around and vote for him again. I hope not, but if the actions of 95% of Republican politicians are any indication, they will fall in line and choose party over country.
2
When I bring up short comings of the GOP I'm immediately hit with the binary choice. It's either us or them. Let that sink in. When i was a kid in the early 60's we had a choice. Vietnam or speaking Chinese by the summer. You only get 2 choices in the GOP bubble. Back then dancing led to bestiality. Times have not changed yet video games is the new dancing.
Mr. Walsh lists a number of sins attributable of Donald Trump. His plea to bring in a Republican challenger, if successful, could remedy most of his list. It would not, however, do anything about our trillion dollar deficit. To work on that, we need to elect a Democrat. Everybody knows that deficits matter only when there is a Democrat in the White House.
2
@rawebb1 you won't hear Walsh recommending that. Meaning he's not credible. This is nothing more than a gripe piece. But Mr. Walsh needs to look in the mirror when he asks how Trump could be so popular with Republicans.
1
"I didn’t vote for Mr. Trump in 2016 because I liked him. I voted for him because he wasn’t Hillary Clinton. Once he was elected, I gave him a fair hearing, and tried to give him the benefit of the doubt."
Too bad you didn't give Hillary Clinton the benefit of the doubt. Our country would be in much better shape if she were President. Too bad you and many others didn't give her a fair hearing. The saddest election outcome in my lifetime.
11
What could a Rino Republican offer the "in between"people, we who voted for Trump, that would be better than what we already have?Trump has endeavored to keep his promises, build a wall to keep out illegal cross overs, put the citizens first before those who r here illegally,veto foreign trade agreements which favor Vietnam, just 1 example, and identifies with working class voters, carpenters, brick layers, stone masons, construction engineers who built his buildings, folks with whom he has an instinctive affinity!Trump has channeled our anger against those who called us the unredeemables,is always himself, never has lost his Queens accent, and exemplifies AUTHENTICITY. He identifies with us, not with Democratic socialists, not with the Keith Ellisons who advertise their support for open borders or Tom Perez,DNC chairman, or, the Dupont Circle crowd in the District which supported Hillary and were in part responsible for her defeat, because their vaunted ground game in 2016 consisted basically of throwing wonkish policy papers on voters' porches, as if that gesture would guarantee a large turnout for her at the polls.Author hits The Donald with all the pejorative adjectives in the world but (A)we r oblivious and (B)we could not care less.Similarity between HRC and Bill and Michelle and Barack.Both couples are wealthy beyond their wildest dreams thanks to politics:O received $400,000 for a speech, Clintons's honorariums r also in the 6 figures!
A courageous piece. One of the most difficult, but helpful things that mature people do is admit when they're wrong. Walsh goes through the thought process that any reasonable conservative would have to perform in assessing the Trump presidency. Trump has shown that he is woefully not up to the job and must not be allowed to remain in office after 2020.
4
It's a shame no elected Republican anywhere has the guts and integrity to say what Mr. Walsh says in this article. Are the 90% of "Republicans" who still support 45 merely blind sheep?
6
@CitizenJ Only 90 percent? Try closer to 95.
And, Walsh is as much to blame for the rise of Trump than any other former or current republican enabler in congress.
1
Mr. Walsh and his Tea Party brethren poured gasoline around the premises and lit the match. And they're surprised when the place goes up in flames?
6
@Paul Walsh and his people take responsibility? Please. Personal responsibility is for liberals, women, and non-White people.
2
Go Joe - we need more commentary like this from conservative Republicans who care about this country!
2
We in New York had to put up for decades with Trump, his racism, his lying, and his ghastly behavior. None of this was a mystery. His ignorance and incompetence was clear from the beginning. I'm having trouble understanding why this was not clear to Mr. Walsh early on.
Why, Mr. Walsh, did you not have moral qualms with Trump's lies in 2014? 2015? Throughout the whole Birther nonsense? More importantly -- why did Republicans select him in the first place? There were many clowns on the Republican debate stage in 2016, but there were a couple of people who might have been an OK fit for the job. Maybe they were boring, but they weren't serial liars.
No... I think you need to go a step further. I think that you, and other Tea-Party people need to own this. You created this situation with your obstruction and your mendacity. This mess of a government, with the Republican party having become the Party of Trump, is your baby. Fix it, or get out of the way.
11
Joe, you stumbled into the wrong forum. Why preach to the choir here when you can, and need to, go on Fox and Friends and rail on Trump. Go to the Wall Street Journal and make your posit. Your message needs to be heard by everyone on the right who is petrified by our Game Show Host in Chief. Here, you'll just get a ton of people who agree with you and some who wonder why you voted for Trump in the first place.
10
A bit late, no, Mr. Walsh? "Anything but Hillary" resulted in the most short-sighted, ignorant, and damaging votes in the history of this country. Now we all are dealing with a disaster and a country basically setting itself on fire. I am a Democrat; I do not like Hilary -- but I could clearly see that the alternative was unthinkable. It is a shame that you "conservatives" did not think. At all.
6
Does Mr. Walsh not get that doing thing like questioning Obama's religion and participating in other dirty tricks paved the way for Trump?
5
Mr. Walsh, your party has enabled this man and supported him every step of the way down this ugly, dark, fiscally dangerous path, in order to secure tax breaks for the super-rich and judicial appointees to appease the religious right. The damage to our security and democracy is monumental and will endure. Your party has proven itself unfit to govern regardless of who lands at the top of your presidential ticket. Just as you couldn't bring yourself to vote for HRC, I will never vote for anyone your party nominates. You are stuck with Trump and his disgrace.
4
"He who rides a tiger can never dismount."
Chinese Proverb
10
@WOID
Bravo!
With all due respect sir, you knew what he was in 2016 and you still voted for him as did millions of Americans. If Americans don’t care enough about their democracy to protect it from enemies foreign and domestic then there is no hope for this nation.
2
It's a little late for one conservative to speak up against this hateful sub human. Maybe too late. And where are the rest of the Republicans. Cowering in their dens and hoping no one notices. Time to get back to an America with compassion--and that's never been Republican territory.
3
You voted for Donald Trump because he wasn't Hillary Clinton. Did you fail to notice that he was Donald Trump?
You mention religion, in the context of questioning Obama's sincerity. You don't mention your own religion.
Have you ever heard this quote from the Bible:
"As ye sow, so shall ye reap."
Assuming one of the two dozen Democrats currently in the race wins the nomination, will you vote for that candidate?
Dan Kravitz
7
I don’t see that you are renouncing your tea party nihilism, but are simply lamenting it’s predictable result. While I appreciate your epiphany, please don’t expect me to forgive or forget that it is your ilk that brought us here.
2
So Mr Walsh, why aren't YOU running instead of wishing for someone else to take up the challenge?
1
It's a wonderful idea--imagine a Republican having the courage to stand up and say what a lying, racist con man Trump is--but it's not going to happen. The GOP that remains after two and a half years of Trump power will not allow anyone to speak negatively about their leader. Nor will the core of Trump supporters allow stones to be thrown at their idol.
1
Someone will rise and ask our president the very same question asked of Senator Joseph McCarthy at the Army hearings by Joseph Welch: "You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"
And, like McCarthy before him, 45 will bob and weave, declare fake news and conspiracy and finally vanish from our realm as if in a magician's puff of smoke.
4
Joe Biden has been a very very good Republican for many years running....he is more Republican than even W. Virginia's Joe Manchin.
Jope Biden should move to the Republican and primary Trump.....Biden could beat Trump in the Primary and then face Senator Elizabeth Warren in the general election.
Come on Biden - do the honorable thing and declare yourself the Republican you truly are!
2
"The fact is, Mr. Trump is a racial arsonist who encourages bigotry and xenophobia to rouse his base and advance his electoral prospects" Mr. Walsh: This is yours, McConnell, Ryan, McCarthy et. al party.
3
I can't believe the NY Times would publish this. Joe Walsh, like pretty much every other Republican, holds a lot of responsibility for the mess we're in now. Of course, he'll never admit to that, but if you take a look at everything he's said over the past 4 years you'll see a man who was very excited for Donald Trump and who helped create an atmosphere of fear and lies. The atmosphere of fear and lies that Donald Trump used to get elected.
This is pathetic.
5
Q: how can ONE man in 2 1/2 years single-handedly beat a whole nation of over 300 mil into complete exhaustion and almost complete acquiescence to him whims?
Is he too strong or we are very wimps?
1
Joe, you questioned someone’s religion? In America? And when the leader of your own party doesn’t even ever worship, in the religious sense? And the Tea Party turned out to be not so interested in fiscal restraint as they claimed to be? Do tell. Why don’t you complain to your so-called conservative audience?
4
You are right on $. Unfortunately, you are saying what democrats are saying. you seem to be a patriot and love your country and you realize your past error. these are all good. In conclusion, you are indicating you do not wnat another term for this president. it is easy to write an op-ed like this. it does not serve any useful purpose without drastic actions before it is too late. why don't you partner with Mr. Gover Norquist, Tax and deficit hawk. People like you or people in your party are enabling the current president to do all mischievous jobs. You blamed the president not being patriot. in my mind all of them (GOP leaders) are unpatritic. let me ask you a favor if you cannot find someone to run against Mr. Trump in the primary would you vote democrat? not only that will you ask all your party members vote for democrat? let us get our house in order before we fight ourselves with the party banner.
2
So Joe Walsh, who wanted to burn down the house, and whose tea party gathered the kindling and the oily rags, is complaining about the match that lit the fire? Reprehensible.
4
Go ahead and do it, Joe - nothing to lose, everything to gain - please.
3
Mr. Walsh you haven't changed, . Conservatives, GOP there is no more room in a decent society for people like you when you should of been speaking up you didn't. When people were being slaughtered in their schools you didn't so dont brother to speak up now. There is no room in America for cowards.
EVERYONE deserves to have a good life no one has to answer to a pretend conservative like you what there religion is. WE saw how you were with PRESIDENT OBAMA. You are pretending that you have grown up Your looking for an opening to pretend that you care about fiscal responsibilities. Well where have you been?. Only a democrat in office do you have so much mouth. Tax breaks for the CEO's on the false pretense of jobs coming back When a democrat wants to increase social security, health care. Plenty of hateful mouth from people like you on letting people die in the street.
The GOP conservatives have everything they want in this president . Bill Weld probably wont even be supported by people like you because he actually is a very smart, clean, principled politician who was a good governor in Massachusetts. Always intelligent comments ,doing the right thing for the people.
The spineless GOP will hide behind fancy words to continue to do nothing good for this country.
People like you have helped in the destruction of democracy in this country. Politics is life and death you played it very well to put us on the path we are now. Why should we listen to you.
3
After 32 months of Trump, Mr. Walsh has taken the measure of the President and decided that Trump is a liar, a bully, a drama queen, cruel and dangerous. Trump was all those things and more before the day he rode down the escalator. Even a cursory examination of his history would have thrown up the red flags that are listed in the article. Did you think that becoming president was going to miraculously turn Donald Trump into a well reasoned and competent individual? Maybe this time you will have to vote for the candidate that isn't Trump.
5
I live in the district adjacent to the district Mr. Walsh formerly represented. He was one of the worst of the Tea Party republicans of his time. Hateful, dismissive, racist, and misogynistic. If he can learn the lesson of why he and those like him should not hold elected office, then the trump era will have done at least one microscopic thing right. Now he just needs to tell his listeners that they too need to atone for the sins of the Tea Party and now the Trumpublican party.
6
Joe "You Lie" Walsh is more than anyone responsible for the character, tone, and casual racism of the current president. When Trump questioned the right of the sitting president to this country, Joe Walsh publicly wrote that he didn't care because "it's just politics." You are late to the table, Mr. Walsh, and no one cares what you have to say. May this forever be your shame, to be associated with the buffoon you courted and raised up.
3
The answer is Andrew Yang.
"I didn’t vote for Mr. Trump in 2016 because I liked him. I voted for him because he wasn’t Hillary Clinton."
As you can see, Joe Walsh, that's a terrible reason to vote someone in, just because you hate the other candidate who happens to have been 10,000 times more qualified than Donald Trump. We reap what we sow.
If you sincerly hope to get the president out of office because you condemn his "indecency, lies, bullying, cruelty, insults, daily drama, incitement, and danger" he places this country in every single day, I suggest you vote Democratic.
A primary challenger ain't going to happen in the age of Trump. Add you voice and vote to the final Democratic nominee who can oust this madman from presidency and begin the heavy job of putting this country back together.
861
@ChristineMcM: So well said! It is difficult to understand why anyone would give DJT the benefit of the doubt when even a casual observer should be able to identify this charlatan.
49
@ChristineMcM Christine, Democrats have to learn how to find candidates who can get elected, who can defeat the likes of Trump and Bush II.
Whatever Clinton's alleged qualifications, it's clear that her ability to get elected President was totally inadequate. In the words of Bernie Sanders, she lost an election to Trump!!
IMO, Gore and Kerry were far more Presidential that Bush II, but they did not know how to win the election.
Now the Democrats need to win next year, and that means winning most of PA, OH, MI, WI, IL, NC, FL.
A ticket of Biden/Klobuchar or Buttigieg, IMO, has by far the best chance.
12
@C. Richard
"In the words of Bernie Sanders, she lost an election to Trump!!"
For the record: A number of factors contributed to the 2016 outcome. And Sanders himself was one. Sanders helped Trump win. He greatly damaged Clinton's candidacy with his inflammatory and untrue claims. And Trump borrowed the Sanders talking points verbatim. Lest we forget please do recall that Mueller determined that Sanders also received meaningful aid from the Kremlin. We are still waiting for Sanders to give us his own 2016 mea culpa. That would be the decent thing to do.
63
Maybe the most reliable path to begin taking back civility and decency is to focus on electing a Democrat controlled Senate, which could then impeach and remove, or AT LEAST move a progressive agenda FORWARD.
4
Come on GOP, why not congratulate your president for all his outstanding achievements by gifting him with a primary challenger. Yes, a primary challenger or “human fidget spinner” would be the perfect way to honor Trumps A+ Performance.
Doesn’t he deserve something more then “Sleepy Joe” to focus on after all the winning he has given your party? It would be so remiss of you to not give Trump the gift he loves best; a foil.
I suggest someone with less racist proclivities, someone who knows how Tariffs work, and someone who actually knows what drain the swamp means. Yes, if you choose a primary challenger like that, Trump will surely glisten because we all know he never perspires!
What we need is a primary challenger in the heart of every GOP supporter and politician..
They have lost the real Americanism in favor of hatred of liberals and unrealistic nostalgic past.
Any time if you're honest with yourself(you don't need to show it to the world; just keep it in yourselves and your God) and ask right questions about our country, our people and our planet; I am sure you will get the answer which will be more aligned against the current GOP.
Please don't think $$ is the king; as true King is we as a human and the what we see around us.
At this point, doesn't it make sense to wait on whether to support Trump or not? What relationship did he and/or his family have with Jeffrey Epstein? According to this crowdsourced twitter thread on Professor and author Seth Abramson's feed, there may have been a few connections: https://twitter.com/fovillian/status/1161075286034669568
1
I’m not sure if Mr. Walsh is readying himself to run against Trump (it sure reads like that) but it is clear he’s trying to reform his own reputation. This is the man who called President Obama a Muslim and told him to “watch out” after police were shot in Dallas. And that’s just the tip of the racist icebergs in his past. One should take with a grain of salt the thoughts of those who paved the way for the acceptance of Trump’s racist views. My question is why the New York Times is giving him an open platform for whitewashing his own history?
5
Say it ain't so Joe: Tea-Party Republicans burnt a trail through democracy for the rise of Mr. Trump. Where is your courage to act instead of just talk? Back to your radio show, please.
4
I was hoping you were the other Joe Walsh.
Nonetheless, I’m glad to hear a little anti-sycophantism from the Republican front.
Life has not been good with you guys so far.
3
Ah, yes, remember the James Gang?
There are MANY things that Trump needs, and integrity is t the top of the list. Not going to happen, ever.
Since his hypocritical "base" doesn't give a darn about anything he does (just watch any of his rabid rallies) and would follow him off a cliff (oh, to see that!), an "opponent" might only strengthen his hold on his army of despicables.
Trump is Trump - he'll NEVER be sane or normal by any definition of the word. He will always be a grifter and incompetent liar and must be attacked politically as such. Keep pointing to all of his failures and lies, thousands of them, and prosecuting for crimes with REAL facts. Propose REAL solutions to our problems; solutions that will work and not destroy our country in the process.
The Loyal Opposition WILL win easily in 2020. I (hopefully not too naively) still believe in the good in this country, but Republicans certainly present a discouraging challenge. Can they leave the dark side or do we just have to tread over them?
3
Joe Walsh you and your gop party started all this with Ronald Reagan. Greed, tax breaks for the rich, and destroying the environment. I can't wait till your party self destructs.
7
C'mon, Mr. Walsh. If America needs someone to go up against Trump, there's much better in the wings -- isn't there -- than another yahoo from television-land. A guy who got voted from CREW as "One of the most corrupt members of Congress." And someone who keeps his views and questions about religion out of the public sphere. Someone decent.
3
I read somewhere (don't remember where, sorry) that the RNC has engineered their convention rules such that a primary challenge to Trump is not possible - can anyone confirm this? NYT can you confirm? If this is true, Mr. Walsh's op-ed is pointless.
1
Thank you Mr. Walsh.
1
This should be in the Wall Street Journal where the people who don’t understand this can read it.
7
Joe Walsh... you didn’t see this coming in 2016?? Gimme a break. Trump telegraphed then everything he’s doing now. Too little, too late.
3
Joe Walsh voted for the guy who spent 8 years questioning Obama's birth certificate and is surprised to find out he's a racist and supports conspiracy theories. He voted for the guy that has gone bankrupt multiple times and is surprised to find out he's inept at business and economics. All because he wasn't Hillary Clinton. Give me a break. Republicans haven't been fiscally conservative since 1980 when Regan started running huge deficits.
On the other hand I will say this piece is a bit of fresh air compared to all of the ones I've seen about Republicans abandoning ship and joining the democrats. Please fix your own party instead of trying to pull mine further to the right.
10
For the life of me, I can't understand why someone from the GOP has not emerged to reclaim the party. Shame!
3
Good luck finding a volunteer among all the cowards paralyzed by fear of a primary challenge from the right.
5
The obvious question to me is, why to you, Mr. Walsh challenge the President in the primaries? You sure seem to have Trump pegged for what he is, a puffed up liar with not a conservative bone in his body.
Maybe if you ran, it might help to invite others to jpin the race with the same thinking you have about President Incoherent.
1
In his criticism of DJT, Mr. Walsh has picked the same wrong subjects as the Democratic challengers. As divisive, repulsive and scary as DJT's bullying tweets are, they serve as a distraction from the utter failing of Republicans to govern. The republic has had weak presidents and do-nothing Congresses before but none rival the shear stupidity of the hapless DJT and the cynicism of the McConnell led Senate. The focus of Mr. Walsh and Democratic challengers needs to increase its emphasis on the central failure of governance and call out the bullying tweets as being the reflection of an empty and disturbed mind.
4
I've had my differences with Congressman Walsh, but I'm glad he's refusing to be an enabler for Trumpism, if a little late. If such a demagogue had taken over the Democratic party instead of the Republicans, I like to think I'd be doing the same thing.
Our usual political differences, important though they may be, pale beside the overwhelming importance of removing this corrupt, incompetent proto-fascist from power. Vote to remove Trump and all his enablers at every level.
3
Trump is the embodiment of the Southern Strategy, but without the dog whistle. Trump is the party of Nixon, Reagan, Bush, and the Tea Party, but without the veneer.
Mr. Walsh repeatedly said that he believed President Obama to be Muslim and repeatedly called for the West to "defeat Islam." He capitalized and continues to profit from the culture of hate that has been fomented with a wink and a nod by Republicans for decades. This was entirely predicable, contrary to Mr. Walsh's trite claim that we "now see where this can lead" (as if it was some youthful indiscretion). The Republican party has demonized people of color for generations. Trump is simply more honest and open about it.
6
Reminds me of an old saying...not sure who to credit for it."If you haven't changed your mind about anything in 30 years, you may just have wasted those years". Thank you Mr Walsh for recognizing our current reality.
6
The Republicans' eyes were wide open in nominating DJ Trump as their GOP Candidate in 2016.
Yes, our country has a devastatingly serious and dangerous mess on our hands and it is infecting the world:
A mentally ill President whose megalomania is clearly accelerating, who has built a Cabinet that cannot contain him and welds so much power he can cripple any GOP legislator and their state with just a tweet and so keeps the GOP silent.
We are running out of time to wait for a challenger from the 'right'.
Trump needs to be removed by impeachment and quickly.
5
It's galling to hear Mr. Walsh channel his best Captain Louis Renault and declare that he is shocked, shocked to find that there has been lying, bullying and bigotry going on in the White House. And not even a nod to the fact that his Tea Party helped to groom the kind of citizenry who were so blinded by their own sanctimony, so willing to reduce complex issues to simple sound bites and so sure of their own predatory piety that they couldn't tell the difference between a true patriot and a two-bit grifter who shared so many of their shabbier qualities.
12
Mr. Walsh's noble idea will be realized in a movie or tv series, not in real life. In real life, Republican ideology of individual rights and capitalism shows its skeleton of self-centeredness and the neurosis of contempt for "the other." No knight will ride in on a white horse.
2
I find it shocking how many voters, including the author, were willing to take a chance on Trump in spite of his complete lack of qualifications for the job and his obvious lack of moral authority—just because “he wasn’t Hilary”. The right to vote is a hard earned privilege and deserves more respect and reflection.
8
Save the Nation!
There's got be someone out in the Republican wilderness who can take this problem out of office.The planet Earth awaits this person. I for one am tried of awaking up to this fiasco of an administration tearing our country apart.Anyone who enjoys this troubled situation is in dire need of therapy ASAP.
Save the Nation and offer yourself to help the country right the ship.It won't be easy ,but it can be done.Our worldwide allies will be forever grateful.
2
I understand your regret sir. Forgiving your willingness to support this man at any point in time will take a very long time. In the end we must unite to take this man down. If he ends up being on the ticket in 2020, my expectation is to see you publicly state in an oped that you voted for his opponent. Then perhaps, I will take you seriously. It would also help to see you gathering public support for your ideas anong your fellow Republicans. This Op-ed does not go anywhere near the level of effort that it would take for this country to trust you and your "Conservative" brethren again. You have made your bed. Let's see if you can get out of it. This country needs you to. We will be watching to see just how far you will out yourself out there in opposition.
Good luck.
3
Why don’t you challenge him, Mr. Walsh? If you truly regret supporting him, and you truly recognize the damage he has done to the country and the world, then run against him as a primary candidate and make it part of your platform to say so.
Personally, I don’t support the values, ideology, behaviors or policies I see coming from the Republican Party. That’s why I am not a Republican. You say Trump is different than other Republicans. You say that he’s a “racist arsonist who encourages bigotry and xenophobia” for his own self-interest. You say his actions are ”un-American.”
That may be.
But, Mr. Walsh, here’s the thing. Donald Trump IS a Republican. Trump IS a Republican because he ran as a Republican. Trump IS a Republican because Republicans and the Republican Party chose him as their candidate. Trump IS a Republican because more established Republicans like yourself legitimized him even when he showed signs of ugliness and unfitness for office very early on. Trump IS a Republican because Republicans like you supported him and voted him into office.
Like many Americans you may no longer recognize the Republican Party, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is still the Republican Party. Furthermore, it’s the Republican Party you helped create.
You are culpable. If you are truly burdened by this, then challenge him. Anything less is just more cowardice and more empty talk.
6
Country over Party? Or Party over Country?
If every GOPer put Country over Party, all of this would stop right now. In fact, it would never have happened because Hillary would have won the election.
But the GOP is all about the GOP. The United States of America is nothing to these folks who put money, power, and theocracy First and actively trample morality, respect for law, and freedom.
3
I have a quick question for Joe Walsh. You voted for Donald Trump because he was not Hillary Clinton. I voted for Hillary Clinton because she was not Donald Trump. Do you suppose if it came to pass that we could both vote for Joe Biden?
2
The RNC doesn't want any challenger as long as Trump's voters are nicely distributed in states that give them an electoral college advantage. Those voters are a sure thing - they love Trump precisely BECAUSE of all the reasons everyone else hates him. They like his vulgarity, his crudeness. They like his laziness, the fact he refuses to read anything, they love that he watches TV all day and Tweets and does no work whatsoever. They think it's great that he plays golf 3-4 days a week and denigrates all the races they also dislike and fear. No, the RNC isn't going to rock this boat.
4
Mr Walsh benefitted in his time from the bilious tsunami of conservative talk radio and TV hate to surf his way into congress as a "Tea Party" Republican. Trump is the natural apotheosis of that whole rancid wave. Mr Walsh, in his own way, helped birth the trump monster. "They that sow the wind, shall reap the whirlwind"
3
The GOP, which has abused the power of its non-divided government from 2016-2018 to approve unqualified and corrupt people to high government positions, appoint partisan hacks to the Federal bench, obstructed Congressional oversight, and whose members of Congress have failed their sworn oaths to "support and defend the Constitution...against all enemies, foreign and domestic," has aided and abetted Trump and his cronies in their pursuit of permanent oligarchic control of the reins of US government power.
Before shutting down and destroying its records, did Cambridge Analytica use its computers and algorithms to gather 5000 data points on every member of Congress (but especially the GOP members) and all potential GOP candidates as well to have have secret files to control and "persuade" them to vote as the leaders wish?
Who knows?
Responsible people in the GOP could have used the 25th Amendment to remove him for his "unfitness," but that didn't happen. Is it because they know how unfit VP Pence would be?
If a GOP primary challenger appeared, would he be any better or just a different face? President Pompeo? President Bannon? President Bolton? President Mulvaney? President Tucker Carlson?
As Mercutio would have said, "A plague on all your houses."
Vote Dem only! You're doing it for yourself, your children, your country, the United States Constitution, and for all the people of Earth.
4
I concur with the expressions of others here Mr. Walsh, the hypocrisy of the Republican Party denies you credibility. The Republican Party allowed this to happen and has aided and abetted him in his quest to destabilize our economy, foreign relations, and the rule of law.
The Tea Party folks response to Obama was ultimately Racist. It was not about good government or economics. It was Bill Clinton who balanced the budget and reduced the Deficit to near zero. It was George Bush who blew all the savings on tax cuts and wars. It was left to Obama to fix it.
But you attacked him from day one and bought into the simple mindedness of Sara Palin talking points. You engaged in "dog whistle" language suggestive of Racist underpinnings. You criticized him because he wore a tan suit, you grabbed on to suggestions he might not have been born in the U.S., You engaged in a concerted effort to make sure he was a one term President (ironically it was you who served one term), thus depriving the American people of good government.
While I agree wholeheartedly in your analysis, it is too late. The Republican Party has lost all credibility. If you think what is happening is wrong, then YOU should run. Use your talk show to turn conservatives against him. Prove that you recognize your errors and make every effort to stop him. I doubt you will.
4
I concur with the expressions of others here Mr. Walsh, the hypocrisy of the Republican Party denies you credibility. The Republican Party allowed this to happen and has aided and abetted him in his quest to destabilize our economy, foreign relations, and the rule of law.
The Tea Party folks response to Obama was ultimately Racist. It was not about good government or economics. It was Bill Clinton who balanced the budget and reduced the Deficit to near zero. It was George Bush who blew all the savings on tax cuts and wars. It was left to Obama to fix it.
But you attacked him from day one and bought into the simple mindedness of Sara Palin talking points. You engaged in "dog whistle" language suggestive of Racist underpinnings. You criticized him because he wore a tan suit, you grabbed on to suggestions he might not have been born in the U.S., You engaged in a concerted effort to make sure he was a one term President (ironically it was you who served one term), thus depriving the American people of good government.
While I agree wholeheartedly in your analysis, it is too late. The Republican Party has lost all credibility. If you think what is happening is wrong, then YOU should run. Use your talk show to turn conservatives against him. Prove that you recognize your errors and make every effort to stop him. I doubt you will.
1
This monster was created by republicans and propaganda from Fox News style agencies and alt-right communities.
Trump harnessed that monster as a conman who tested the audience at his rallies with what got the most cheers.
The question is who drives the president. If the republican base is driving the president this monster may yet devour him and us with him.
3
The problem with Trump is Trump.
In 2016 he enunciated some broadly popular themes, some which he abandoned immediately upon entering office, others which he is far too incompetent, mean spirited, narcissistic and impulsive to get right.
He promised to spend 1 trillion dollars on sorely needed infrastructure. He promised not to reflexively jump into stupid wars, which both parties have been doing since Clinton's presidency. He wanted to focus on how trade deals affect average working Americans, not just multinational corporations. He promised to get serious about illegal immigration, another issue which both parties' leadership don't really want to fix, since endless cheap labor helps their corporate masters' bottom lines. He wanted to ensure that our wealthy allies finally do more of the heavy lifting for our mutual security.
These are not bad themes in the hands of decent, honest, competent leadership. They are popular on the right and left.
A dark horse candidate hitting him on the right for his policy failures as well as personal vileness would be at least as dangerous to him as any candidate currently running for the Democratic nomination.
My kingdom for a brave Republican!
2
The Mr. Walsh continues to float the lie that the Tea Party was born out of Americans' frustration over exploding budgets and not a reaction to the election of the first black president says to me that his come-to-Jesus moment is still to come. And who is more to the right than Donald Trump? David Duke?
6
Dear Representative Walsh,
If, as appears likely to me, no Republican other than Mr. Weld is willing to go up against President Trump, what will your response be? Will you suit your actions to your words and step up yourself, having brought up this problem?
From Rep. Walsh’s description of Trump, he better be willing to actually run - or to vote for Weld over Trump. If he votes for Trump - again - he will have willfully endangered our country according to his own assessment.
Mr. Walsh was motivated to run for congress because he wanted to restrain executive power and reduce the debt. Then he voted for Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton. He doesn't have a clue.
3
By not voting for Hillary Clinton you denied one of the most qualified candidates a chance to run the country. Not that it would have mattered given who is running the Senate at this point but Clinton, not Trump, was the one who had the necessary experience.
What I don't understand is how you, Mr. Walsh, or any other GOP member, could ignore Trump's record of failure, race baiting, etc. and vote for him. The only conclusion I have been able to draw is that power rather than good governance mattered more to the GOP. And that is a frightening thought because it means that power means everything to the GOP while serving Americans is secondary. This state of affairs might be wonderful for the richest people and corporations but adds nothing save misery to the lives of ordinary Americans.
If Trump doesn't have a worthy competitor that will spell the end of the GOP as a party. However, I'm more concerned that Trump, whether he is defeated in 2020 or comes to the end of his term in 2024 if he wins in 2020, will refuse to leave office peacefully. He has all the makings of a despot. The GOPs lack of spine all but ensures that he will attempt something like it.
In this reader's opinion the GOP is at fault for this presidency. You had other candidates to choose from. You could have united against him at several points in the last few years. You didn't because you decided not to exercise any collective restraining power you might have had.
6
Any Republican is better than this mistake and fluke. He was elected by people who had grievances but do not understand their vulnerabilities. Trump is made for the unaware.
1
I heard an expert say on MSNBC yesterday that the G.O.P. decided in 2012 it needed to open the party up & be welcoming to minorities, particularly Hispanics & Asian Americans, with moderate policies & ditch extremism.
Then Donald Trump appeared & the G.O.P. decided to throw in with him because continuing as an extreme party doubling down on racism, eviscerating entitlement benefits, xenophobia & isolationism would appeal to old white men in rural areas - reliable G.O.P. voters still supporting those things. Using Trump to target those men gave the G.O.P. one last election victory by appealing to those people - Trump's "base" - before demographic change results in people of color becoming the majority of the U.S. population.
But doing that - supporting Trump & his "base"- would also mean after Trump's the G.O.P. would not win another presidential election for many years, possibly decades. Supporting Trump meant a very short-term win leading to revulsion toward the G.O.P. by voters in urban & suburban areas - a strategy certain to lose future elections.
The G.O.P. decided it would go for the win w/ Trump, regardless of what that meant for the party's future.
If true, it shows up why the G.O.P. is so solidly behind Trump & McConnell's rushing to confirm hard core right-wing judges to the federal bench. They know this is their very last chance to do this - a last gasp shot at changing as much as they can before the G.O.P. is condemned to the trash heap of history.
5
As a liberal Democrat I'd like to see a genuine conservative challenger folr three reasons. (1) it would restore some of some of our confidence in traditional governance. (2) it would give voice to Trump's many horrors from a source who might be welcome on the right. (3) it might raise enough doubt about Trump to help the Democratic candidate (ANY Democratice candidate) win in 2020.
So, Joe Walsh, enter the fray!
4
Mr. Walsh, if Hillary had won the Republicans would be hammering home the budget deficit issue on every news show and opinion column 24 hours a day. With Trump as President we hear not a word from the GOP or most conservative pundits. A vote for her might have been more inline with your conservative values. I agree with you that Trump is not a conservative. But, you reap what you sow.
9
i always wonder why paul ryan is on the board of fox. is murdoch holding a candidate in reserve, in case trump really goes south? so many questions and so few answers. meantime, such a sad time in our history.
3
Great column, should be required reading. Too bad only the Republicans no longer in office are willing to speak up.
7
Wow! I don't think I have agreed so much with a conservative republican! Mr. Walsh rightly calls out the republican Trump enablers in Congress. The 2016 lesson for the whole country, and especially republicans, is never vote for a morally bankrupt person, even if you do agree with the policies they propose. It is far better to have a decent, competent person as president, even if they don't share your political positions. I believe in risk management and I sleep better at night when both major parties have decent, competent presidential candidates. I don't, however, agree with Mr. Walsh's desire for a far-right candidate. Republicans; how about Mitt Romney?
5
You are assuming the GOP wants to disassociate from Trump. They do not. Trump is the perfect front man for the GOP. He's a constant stream of bread and circuses, media stunts, distraction and deflection away from the GOP's tax cuts for the wealthy clients, raising the US treasury, along with the fact that they've failed to address nearly every major issue, from health care to immigration reform. The GOP has a satisfied donor base so will not move.
Trump provides this distraction and deflection while cleverly convincing (conning) his unwitting base that he has their backs, while he robs them from behind.
9
Dear Mr. Walsh,
Let's see.. back in 2017 you had no sympathy for Jimmy Kimmel's new born son and his medical condition. You made that public on Twitter. You seem to have a child support issue. You railed against democratic politicians personally and now you have a change of heart because you are concerned the man in the oval office might decimate your republican party? Hmm... Am I right? ..Let's go back in time. Twitter is a wonderful thing to see the foibles of some intelligent people who don't know how to use it. June 26, 2016. "The single greatest act of racism in American history was the election of Barack Obama. People voted for him simply because he was black"... Now Am i right? You make many fine points but the minute you cast a vote for a lying misogynist who bankrupted many working folk as a better choice than Hillary Clinton you stuck to party line. How dare you now try to write with some intelligence and thought about your past foibles. How about next time before you open your mouth you carefully think through you opinion before making it public. We, all Americans, would be happy to work with you at that point.
29
@TFPLD
Wow, thank you. I've heard other despicable conservatives say that the only reason Barack Obama won was because he was black. Utterly ridiculous. All I remember is crossing my fingers and hoping Sarah Palin's constant stream of inanities would torpedo McCain's bid because that was the ONLY way, repeat, the ONLY way Mr. Obama could win. She did a fine job of it.
Perhaps some black people voted for him solely because he is black--but that's about it. No white person I know said, hey, you know what? I want to vote for the black guy. Policy? Who cares....I just want to vote for the black guy.
Some people I know (the 'I'm not a racist, but...' types) were not so happy with Barack Obama being black, but having Sarah Palin be a heartbeat away from the presidency was something they just couldn't abide.
Minimizing Obama's historic achievement by saying he only won because he is a black man is on a par with the birther movement. Denigrate, diminish. Encourage the base to feel contempt. Those are the tactics of people like Mr. Walsh. His calling Trump a 'racial arsonist' is rather like the pot calling the kettle black.
I find this op-ed insulting. Mr. Walsh is regretful only because his ugly utterances resulted in Trump. "We now see where this can lead" tells me he once thought his approach was acceptable. It was never acceptable.
2
It is becoming increasingly obvious that Trump will have a great amount of difficulty in getting reelected. His approval rating has hovered around 41%. He’s underwater in most of the swing states. Accordingly, the sharks are circling. They can smell the “blood in the water.”
Don’t listen to this contrite apology. That’s not what it’s about. It’s looking for a way out when Trump loses. Actions have consequences. The far-right needs to lose badly. Trump and his enablers need to be carefully investigated. If they have committed crimes, they need to be prosecuted.
10
Yes, people are finally realizing that it is the Trump persona complete with racism and white supremacy that draws widespread support.
Trump has captured the lowest form of political life, bottled it for all to buy at cut rate prices.
What hope is there for such a denigrated country?
4
So . . . why don't you challenge him, Mr. Walsh? With your nationally syndicated radio program, you have the same advantage that Trump had.
7
Maybe the narrative of your transformation is just what some people need to hear.
1
My main take-away from this is do not vote AGAINST someone. That is, if you didn't like Ms. Clinton, voting for the other candidate meant voting for someone who may be incompetent, corrupt, equally unlikable, or simply not in line with your own views. It is a fallacy to think voting for "the lesser of two evils" will get us anywhere. I am not sure about the solution. Maybe write in votes, or ignore the top line and just vote for all of the other important races and issues on the ballot. As a nation, we learned this lesson the hard way.
4
@Carr Kleeb It was obvious long before the 2016 election that Trump was incompetent, corrupt, and generally vile. Those who voted for Trump because they believed he was the lesser of two evils made a strong statement about themselves - and it was not a flattering one. As you said, it's a fallacy to think that lesser-of-two-evils voting will get us anywhere. If, knowing that one of them will almost certainly be elected, none of the candidates meet your threshold for acceptability then blank your ballot. It's not complicated.
1
To the right? How does one go to the right of someone who aligns himself with dictators?
14
If memory serves, while in Congress Walsh was one of those loud-mouthed no nothings who was prone to outlandish statements. That he now thinks Trump has gone too far speaks volumes regarding the current occupant of the White House. This is pure satire. Too bad Saturday Night Live is on summer hiatus.
10
I disagree with many of policies that you and the Tea Party espouse. But, I applaud you, sir, for your moral stand. Now, please use your conservative talk show to educate all the other Trump voters.
8
If Mr. Walsh was for real.... he'd be offering a full thoated apology to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. He'd be acknowledging that Donald Trump deserves to be impeached. He'd be urging Senate Republicans to be zealously conducting oversight and only allowing truly qualified candidates to hold important Cabinet, Intelligence and Judicial posts. He might even step back and understand the volumes of data that show that much of his economic thinking is actually flawed. We could go on...
9
WHAT? You all allowed this to happen so I do expect you to bare the responsibility of cleaning it UP. So go on pick a fiscally conservative, constitutional supporting republican if you can FIND one.
3
A day late and a dollar short. But maybe Mr. Walsh’s comments, coming on the heels of Rep. Justin Amash’s very public repudiation of Herr Trumpenfuhrer, will cause more of Congressional Republicans to follow suit.
I highly doubt they will, as most of them have proven themselves either cowards or craven political hacks, continuously feeding at the Trump trough.
But I remain hopeful.
6
Republicans don't have, nor ever had in recent decades, any principles. Nixon's time was a blight on the presidency. Reagan broke all records for massive deficits, national debt, foreign crimes, etc. W followed in that tradition of big spending war criminal. Now Trump is again following in that same mold, with an extra dose of white nationalism.
5
Too little, too late GOP! 2016 should have produced a GOP candidate. It's too late to correct now GOP. I was a republican for many decades, from the state of Michigan. That was when the GOP still was a reputable party with a respectable platform. Those days are over. Mitt Romney should have been the clear choice for the GOP, with his family’s legacy. George Romney was a well-respected politician. I was surprised that Rona didn’t support Mitt. Rona lost her vie for the senate to Spencer Abraham. I knew them all then; running a successful GOP campaign at that time. During that stumping season, it was well known that the radical religious zealots were in a battle for the control of the GOP. Now we see, the zealots won the battle. As a result, they will turn a blind eye to all of Trump’s bigotry, paranoia, mendacity, and viciousness. No better representative of the ugly GOP truth than Trump; they do not come much uglier than he."I Could Stand in the Middle of Fifth Avenue and Shoot Somebody, and I Wouldn't Lose Any Voters”. His locker room talk is disgraceful, his love of autocrats and dictators deplorable, his censorship of all who may disagree reprehensible, and his disregard for the principles of democracy impeachable. GOP has lost its core values. The idea they will self-correct now is laughable.
6
I have zero respect for the conservative politics of Mr. Walsh, but he is correct here. Trump is an embarrassment to conservatives and the values they claim to have. I wish he had spoken sooner, but integrity and courage are in short supply these days. Trump is the GOP’s problem and they can fix it if they only could stand up and do something.
3
Buyers' remorse from Republican congressman. That's hilarious. Trump got the nomination from the arrogance and complacency of the Republican establishment. They dismissed him as a clown and now kowtow to his every whim. Memo to Mr. Walsh: Too late. Trump has his base around his finger. Governor Weld is making a noble effort in challenging Trump but he and any other potential Republican challenger have no shot. The only way Walsh gets his wish to oust Trump is by the Democratic nominee beating him in 2020.
2
Not happening. 90% of the GOP approves of Trump. This is what you wanted.
4
It's too late, unless the aim of the primary challenger is to go on to contest the general election as an independent and thus divide the Republican vote. Now and forever more the McConnell Trump Republicans are the party of white male supremacy. The party that couldn't care less about democracy, the Constitution, the rule of law, an independent DOJ and FBI, honesty, ethics, treason. The party that forces rape victims to carry the rapist's embryo to term. The party which is taking away health care, Social Security and Medicare. The deal the Republicans made with the grifter demagogue was a step too far. Their sole aim is the preservation and augmentation of perpetual white conservative entitlements, prerogatives and dominance, no matter what that takes. The Republicans sold their souls for a tax cut for the rich. Graham was right. If the demagogue and authoritarian fascist Trump goes down that's the end of the Republican party. Graham was not, however, telling the whole story. If Trump stays, that's also the end of the Republican party. It's too late, Mr. Walsh.
7
You should run against him Mr. Walsh.
1
Enough of your crocodile tears. You saw his indecency and his lies all through the 2016 election season. You helped make the bed we must all lie down in. Hillary Clinton was very far from perfect, but she had lots of experience and (despite what the more crazed of her detractors insist) a fundamental respect for the Constitution and the rule of law.
7
Let's remember who this guy is: he's the one who called out at a state of the union address to President Obama "you lie". He's the one that lost his seat because he didn't do constituency work and no one wanted to be represented by him, in a conservative district. This guy has not changed. Opportunistic as always. Don't trust a word he says. He talks from both sides of his mouth. Good riddance Joe.
12
@ VB. Nope. That was Rep. Joe Wilson. But, in a way, you’re right; they’re all alike.
2
Your party has left you. I suggest you join the Democrats. Your views expressed here are more closely aligned with what the Democratic party actually stands for, not what your party tells you it stands for. I suggest that you (and others like you, if any) just vote for the Democratic nominee that emerges.
1
WOW. If this guys feels so strongly, let him run. This guy was considered one of the guys who drove the Republican clown car in the House during the Obama presidency. The 'you lie' guy who shouted out this slur during the State of the Union speech when Barack Obama simply told the Truth that Citizens United would lead to dark money coming from foreign adversaries into US political campaigns at every level. Turns out Obama told the truth. Joe Walsh is the one who lied.
6
I wouldn't take advice from Mr Joe "no child support for you" Walsh. He sounds like an angry person. He voted for Trump because he hated Hillary. Now Trump got his nerves so he wants someone to challenge Trump (is he nominating himself?).
No thanks. I think Mr Walsh's real beef is that he doesn't play well with others. And especially if that other is an angry person like himself.
8
Trump and his corrupt Cabinet and advisors represent the criminal underbelly of America. Since Mr. Trump has been President, there has been a constant assault by Mr. Trump and his colleagues on American ethics and values.
Degradation of our intelligence agencies. Attacks against the EPA and our National Parks and Forests. Denial of science and climate change. Destruction of our economy through undisciplined protectionism. Defense of assault weapon massacres. Over 12,000 documented lies since being in office! The list of Mr. Trump's incompetence and chaos goes on and on.
2020 cannot come soon enough.
4
There’s one tiny problem with all of this Mr. Walsh— your party’s base, especially Evangelicals, LOVES Trump. They don’t seem to have any problem at all with Trump’s lying, incompetence or lack of adherence to conservative principles. To them, his racism is a feature, not a bug. Good luck with that challenge from the right.
6
Obama should had never won his second term. He just opened the path to our current president.
@Justice Agree completely. We'd be in a much better place had Romney won in 2012.
1
One suggestion for Joe Walsh: If you couldn’t deduce from Trump’s past behavior and campaign rhetoric that he would be a disaster as President, maybe you lack critical thinking skills and foresight and should quit your talk show, go home and be quiet.
6
Although I appreciate Mr Walsh and his early recognition of who Trump was and has become as president, I find it hard to give him the complete benefit of the doubt. Anyone, including someone like myself living in the hinterlands of Idaho, was willing to take the time to investigate, could have learned who Donald Trump really was. Through this newspaper and other news sources, I learned that Donald Trump was a serial cheater, that he was a con man, a liar, a man whose own attorneys would not be with him alone, because they feared his lies, he was a grifter, a racist, a failed business man, a 6 time bankrupt, a man who cheated subcontractors, a narcissist, and a man so full of foibles, that no one should vote for him for any public office. Yet, people voted for him anyway, even though Hillary Clinton with all of her supposed baggage, was light-years ahead of Donald Trump. Yes Mr. Walsh you are correct, but you and millions of others really have no excuse for putting us in this position, because what we see in Donald Trump now, was public knowledge in 2016.
4
So Joe Walsh says Life's Been Too Good To Trump So Far. Hmm.
2
Trump's opening remarks in 2015 were Mexicans were "criminals and rapists".
Mr. Walsh: which part of Trump, "a racial arsonist", did you want to "give the benefit of the doubt"?
6
Geez, when someone of Joe Walsh's character says its bad, its bad.
7
I long for the good old days when a political argument meant disagreeing on policy. I have had visceral disagreements with Walsh, especially regarding his treatment of President Obama, but I applaud his recognition of the danger trump poses. I wonder can we recover?
1
Given that Trump's approval rating is around 90% among Republican voters, any primary challenge -- especially one that might lead to a third party candidate -- would surely guarantee Trump re-election.
He failed to win the popular vote in 2016 because of third party candidates, and he'll do it again if it happens again. The only vote against Trump is a vote for whoever wins the Democratic nomination. A third party candidate that allows the 10% of the GOP who don't approve of Trump an out to avoid voting Democratic would help Trump get re-elected.
His cultic base will not be swayed by the kind of candidate Mr. Walsh describes.
2
Although not a true party loyalist, Trump has become the personification of GOP ugliness dating back generations. Prominent conservative commentators like Walsh, Will and Kristol had every opportunity to help avert the disaster we now face, but chose to cheer the game on despite potential risks.
Ironically, when real patriots are busy rebuilding our post-Trump society, another challenge will be to find anyone willing to admit having supported Trump.
2
Nikki Haley can take the Republican nomination away from Trump if she decides to do it.
Beyond that, if she's the Republican nominee she has a strong chance to become the next president.
3
@fast/furious
I would like to see that happen. She is very talented, for one thing. But the best part of that would be the fact that the Republican base would have to support a brown female. Wonder how that would go... sure would be fun to watch!
Okay Mr. Walsh. No Republican challenger can beat him, but someone needs to take one for the team. It would make Trump fight a 2 front war, and distract him. If no one steps up, do it yourself, for the good of the nation. We’ll be lucky to survive his first term, the nation is over if he’s re-elected.
6
"At times, I expressed hate for my political opponents. We now see where this can lead. There’s no place in our politics for personal attacks like that, and I regret making them."
This is the re-awakening of a thoughtful conservatism- may it multiply millions fold! We need both sides in an honest, respectful contest of ideas, and compromise when necessary.
3
Three questions for Mr. Walsh -
You're suggesting that Trump needs a more conservative opponent to appeal to that wing of the party. I think that horses is already out of the barn.
1) Hasn't the Republican party pledged its fealty to Trump? Are there actually any independent-thinking rightist, conservative republicans who would consider running? Or have they all been caught in the Trump-groupthink?
I don't see anyone with stature and gravitas who hasn't bought into the Trump fan club.
2) Even if someone of this type is identified, would that person have a chance of beating Trump in the primaries? That person would have to start campaigning today and raising money fast. Who can do that? And how much resistance will they get from the Trump machine?
3) Could this person, if he/she exists, make a case for the republican party to win? Or has Trumpism so fouled the waters of republicanism that anyone - even the most stalwart traditional conservative - wouldn't have a chance of beating a Democrat in the general election. Restated - how fatal are the wounds that Trump has created in the right?
Mr. Walsh writes an interesting column, but I think it's more wishful thinking than it is reality.
4
If Joe Walsh, former Illinois congressman, is a Republican to the right of Trump, and thinks someone should primary Trump from the right, what's stopping Joe Walsh from doing it himself?
2
James Mattis? John Kelly? Jeff Flake? John Kasich? Let's get them together on a debate stage and press them for their opinions and solutions. There might be some interest from Republicans. There would definitely be an audience among moderate and conservative Democrats.
4
Trumps black-hole narcissism, his dishonesty, his multiple bankruptcies, his severe bigotry, has been apparent for decades to anyone with the ability to read.
Obviously, Mr. Walsh did not have this ability making his thoughts irrelevant.
6
Ok, Joe. Step up to the plate.
2
In France, conservative politicians rejected their own extreme right-wing candidate Marine LePen and —for the good of the country— supported center- right Macron instead.
Here, the GOP did the opposite, going all in for a candidate they knew was racist, immoral, criminal, manifestly unqualified and encouraging Russian interference. Because ... “her Emails.”
Something is deeply rotten in the GOP. They are traitors to our nation.
12
No sympathy here. The GOP - having done nothing to prevent Trump's rise in 2015-16 - has become completely sycophantic. Lies, exploding the deficit, kowtowing to Russia, North Korea and Saudi, failure to stand up for democracy and democracy protesters abroad, racial bigotry on all aspects of immigration, personal integrity, calling neo-Nazis "very fine people" --- and nary a peep or an ounce of courage from alleged conservatives. So, sure, please challenge him but spare us the internal agony. You knew what you were getting when you bought it.
3
Trump is a simpleton, supported by his ilk. The GOP has sold its soul to this faction of the electorate, not just for numbers, but also because they are easily manipulated. A simple attack ad inspiring (baseless) fear is all it takes. Then corporate billionaires like the Koch Brothers are free to rape the environment and rig the marketplace.
5
Hello!! Bill Weld!
You’re blissfully unaware that Trump has a primary challenger?
As a “Tea Party” Republican you were, knowingly or unknowingly, a tool of Koch Bros money. I would have thought you had to know, but after reading this, maybe not.
You actually thought the Republican Party cared about the deficit.
You voted for Trump over an experienced, competent candidate even though it was obvious in 2016, even to readers of the supposedly liberal NYT, what Trump was.
And here you are making the case that Trump needs (another) primary challenger, but I see nothing about where one might come from or you doing anything about it.
Joe, you ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed, are you?
4
Dear NYT Editors,
I am grateful for your publication of this article by Joe Walsh. He is one among the prominent Republicans who dare to voice an evolving stance on our current POTUS—however late it may be. But Walsh's contribution could have been more accurately entitled, "The GOP Needs a Primary Challenge."
I desperately implore you stop putting our current POTUS's name in nearly every headline on the front page of your/our online edition!!! Too much of it is little more than nauseating "news" of Tweets and Twitters that merely reflect the man's ill character, which won't change. This makes it nearly impossible to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Please move the POTUS character charades to your back pages and get more courageous and creative with the front-page headlines.
8
I for one salute Joe Walsh from taking time off from his busy schedule with The Eagles and his solo work to make his voice heard. If more classic rockers with a conscience pulled away from the bong long enough to participate in our electoral system, our nation would be the better for it. "Life's Been Good" to Joe Walsh, and now he's giving back. That's the Rocky Mountain -- that is, the American -- way.
4
"On more than one occasion, I questioned Mr. Obama’s truthfulness about his religion. At times, I expressed hate for my political opponents. We now see where this can lead. There’s no place in our politics for personal attacks like that, and I regret making them."
You regret this personal attack but you do not retract this hateful lie.
Are you still a Birther, too?
Your column is not too little, too late. The problem, when you propose a challenger to Mr. Trump from the right, is that you're still wedded to a libertarian and racist ideology that puts shallow ideas ahead of people's needs.
7
As a former Republican voter, I have watched the self-destruction of a once Grand Old Party with amazement. Unfortunately, the GOP is destroying not only itself, but the America that once was a world leader, but now lies in virtual ruins. Sic transit gloria America.
5
One small consolation of the Trump experience is that the Imperial Presidency has been cut down a bit. Any rascal can be elected President. But then, we should have learned that with Bill Clinton and George W.
2
@Bruce I agree with this! We're long overdue for a re-balancing of the balance of powers. Unfortunately Congress is always too paralyzed by re-election fears to take back its own power.
3
It’s the exception rather than the rule that someone has the ability to self-reflect upon their behavior. And, to admit one’s behavior was something not to be proud of is rarer still Thus, I give kudos to Mr. Walsh for regretting his hateful words. I also hope he is open to alternatives other than a Republican challenge to Trump. I hope he writes opinion pieces for Breitbart News sources, the Wall Street Journal, The Hill and other conservative and right-wing news sources. I hope he challenges his listeners who adulate this president. I hope he makes appearances on Fox News and PBS. He has a platform and the ability to break this wall of denial surrounding our president and his enablers. Go for it, Joe!
4
It's pretty clear to me that those who wave the flag the hardest are the least patriotic of Americans. Good for Mr. Walsh - but his approach to governance is a good part of the problem that set us up from the likes of trump.
At the end of the day what makes America great is the ability to use critical thinking to form policy to better the country. The 40% of the country that waves the flag the hardest simply has no idea what the flag stands for and may as well be waving a Pepe flag - they have identified their tribe and it is not America.
6
Thank you Mr. Walsh for speaking up. We need more Republicans to come out of the closet and tell the American people the truth about Trump.
4
You say ..."Americans want fixes to our most basic problems"
And I beg: Please, someone, Please put a list, tell us precisely what are our most important problems. I hear much too vogue sentences which confuse me; give me your list, it'll no doubt make it easier to understand what's so wrong these days. Surely, this is true for the majority of us, Americans. thanks.
2
I'm certainly appreciative that Congressman Walsh has learned the error of his ways, but this seems too little too late. Republicans fleeing the party have learned the dangers of fire after the house is already in ashes.
6
The Tea Party was the problem and not the solution. Mr Walsh does not understand that. The current Republican Party has never been the Party of Lincoln. Then the Republican Party was more like the current Democrats. It is now more apt to name it the Party of Nixon. It is venal and corrupt. It holds power for power’s sake and to enrich its members no matter the cost to others. It’s roots trace to the Know Nothing Party. All Mr Reagan did was to sugar-coat the mean-spiritedness of Nixon without embracing the decency of Mr Ford (remember him?). A primary challenger might help but it is impossible to find a decent person remaining in the Right Wing mob. The Republican Party needs to go through the political equivalent of a Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and rebuild itself. We need more decent men on the right like John McCain but even he was compromised. The hatred seems to emanate exclusively from the right while expressing the false equivalent that attributes hatred to the Left when what they think is really disgust. Mr Walsh’ crocodile tears are decades too late.
13
Mr Walsh, are we to assume, then, you will vote for whomever challenges Trump, primaries as well as the general election?
3
Joe Walsh recently said the only reason he voted for trump was that the other candidate was Hillary Clinton. Yes, Hillary Clinton, a smart, knowledgeable patriotic American who would not have taken us down the path the buffoon has since his first day in office. Primary challenger? It will never happen. The Rs did not prevent trump's candidacy, has not put a stop to any of his insanity. As the runaway train of this so-called presidency continues, all we can hope for is a landslide victory for his opponent in the 2020 election.
8
So, Joe, are you saying if you had a chance to recast your 2016 vote you would vote for Hillary? All of the things you say about Trump were either already known in 2016, or at least strongly supported by Trump’s history, but you hated Hillary so much that you did not see Trump for what he really is until now.
Here is the GOP problem post Hillary - the Republican voters now see Trump in his full blown awfulness without having to vote for Hillary, or being consumed by their Hillary hatred, but those voters are perfectly fine with the Trump they now clearly see. A conservative challenger to Trump would have no chance, Trump owns the GOP, and Republicans were never really a Conservative party to begin with. There are no conservatives left in the Republican Party, so where are a conservative challengers voters in the GOP, Joe?
7
Look at the possible contenders -- not for nothing are they called "Spineless Republicans." They're all about keeping their jobs, their health care, while they go along on Trump's White is Right ride. Why rock the boat? These people are not about the future -- they're about preserving the past.
7
Yes, Trump needs a challenger on the right, in part because it will force him to publicly attend debates with that person for the nomination, or reveal his gross autocrat instincts even further, by suggesting he's above that. To attend a debate for the NOMINATION? The very concept itself will insult his vast ego. He'll see it like he's a Hollywood movie star being asked to audition for a part.
3
Yes.
I think Mr. Trump deserves several primary challengers. William Weld, a "Northreastern Republican" can remind the country that the Republican Party could once include fiscal and social moderates, before they were stigmatized as Republicans In Name Only. Evan McMullen and/or Max Boot could remind the country that sound national intelligence and consistent foreign policy are the antithesis of Trumpism. Robert Mueller could remind Republicans that Russia is a serious threat to our electoral process. And, if Joseph N Welch (who may not have been a Republican) could be brought back from the dead, he could say, "Have you no decency, Sir?"
3
Joe Walsh is looking for his 15 minutes of fame.
Huffing and puffing about contenders from the same party of a sitting president.
In the end, you can be sure, Joe Walsh will be voting for Donald Trump - Period.
Republicans are hard-wired to stay loyal to their party, regardless of how GOP policies are directly hurting them and their families.
This is why it is so easy to be a Republican Politician.
Get a bead on your audience and then custom tailor the Kool Aid to satisfy the crowd. . . . Platform done
Oh, and be sure to get all of your slogans printed on T-Shirts and Bumper Stickers -
Of course there will be "Send them back" . . .
But I also think we are going to see some colorful variations on; "Socialism" - as being the stake to drive through the Democratic Candidate.
Speaking of Socialsim, or more accurately; Social Services provided by our government for those in need . . .
Well - I have a lot of Republican co-workers, friends, and family members who are horrified at the notion of a Democrat turning America into a Socialist state.
Then tell me - why is it - these Republicans who bask in services like; Social Security, Medicare the most - scream the loudest against Social-ism !
It will be a tough, or sadly impossible nut to crack - to try and explain to a republican voter (or anyone in the GOP) - how the Social Services they are now enjoying, are in no way related to the Economic Monetary system known as "Socialism" !
4
Fair enough. Just like with Obama, the people of the U.S. went with the untried candidate, as they did with Obama. Obama turned out to be a good moderate Republican, rather than a progressive, and Trump turned out to be off the rails. McCain and Clinton both had lots more experience than their opponents. Tough.
For God sakes, let some Republican grow a spine.
Good op-ed Congressman Walsh.
@Dr. Zen
Obama was a two-term state senator and was elected to the Senate before the Presidency.
Obama was a middle of the road Democrat.
You're whining about Obama is the type of lazy false equivalency that allowed Trump to get elected.
2
@Dr. Zen Obama was a good President who was stymied by McConnell and the other Republicans who vowed to make him a one term President. He would have accomplished a lot more if it weren't for them. But they love Trump. Go figure. Not a patriot among them.
So is Mark Sanford really challenging Trump in 2020?
If so, good for him...an opportunity to atone for his "Appalachian Trail" story.
Sanford looks like a saint compared to Trump's many affairs and tens of thousands of lies.
5
It is refreshing to see conservative Republicans calling out Trump on his incompetence. The question now is whether they are willing to do anything about it. I hope that "common sense", a quality largely espoused by the uneducated electorate, comes to bear in November, 2020.
3
This is way too little, and far too late.
6
Your criticisms of Trump are perfectly true. However: his more socially divisive and xenophobic positions are a crucial part of what got him elected. He could not change them - even if he wished - and survive politically. Therefore he won't, can't, change. The more 'technical' policy issues are a matter of indifference to his core support. They're therefore irrelevant to the same group. He's kept Pence on tenterhooks as to whether he'll be Trump's preferred running mate next year; this is part of Trump's plan to assure his own candidacy. No, however grotesquely, Donald Trump is a man for our times. The Republicans cannot win with anyone else; they may well win again, with him. He is, therefore, the expected candidate next Fall. 'Fitness', in the sense you, or I, might mean, is irrelevant.
2
Why was President Obama's religious conviction relevant to Walsh at all?
It was clear that Trump's religious conviction, including three marriages and adultery along the way, was on full public display, not to leave out the 22 or so women who accused Trump of sexual improprieties. Yet Walsh voted for him.
Walsh could live his personal redemption by using his radio show as a platform to change the minds of folks like him. Maybe also an OpEd for the WSJ
6
"To be sure, I’ve had my share of controversy. On more than one occasion, I questioned Mr. Obama’s truthfulness about his religion. At times, I expressed hate for my political opponents."
And THIS is exactly why we are where we are. So, welcome to the world of the sane, but it's because of your shallow, baseless claims years ago that the Republican party has led us off the cliff.
4
Sorry Mr Walsh, your words are hollow and your motives seemingly devious to me at this late stage of the game. We simply need something better than this!
4
Unfortunately Congressman Walsh you are a " former " Congressman. You now regret your past but that does not absolve you. But you can partially atone by trying to persuade closet Republicans who fear or hate Trump to put up a primary challenge. That is the only thing you can do now even if they are Tea Partyers. Funny how even the Tea Party seems more centrist than the current man we have in the office.
3
I agree with other opinion writers that all of Trump’s dishonesty, immorality, indecency and unfitness to be president we’re on clear display prior to the 2016 election. Anyone who voted for him because “he was not Hillary” clearly lacks the sound judgment to be our commander-in-chief. Back up your words Mr. Walsh with clear action to help prevent four more years of the most destructive president in our nation’s history. Only then will your words of regret ring true and of mean something.
5
Perhaps Mr. Walsh, you should actually challenge Trump instead of hoping that some one else does it.
1
I would welcome a conservative opponent to Trump's GOP nomination because the battle would surely help the Democratic nominee. Out of the mouths of Republicans would pour many of the same criticisms of this vile con man pointed out by the Democrats. And out of the mouths of Trump loyalists would spew their hypocritical adulation of him and vicious attacks on party opponents.
I also welcome the contrition of Mr. Walsh about his own extreme attacks on opponents. However, the unpatriotic rot in the GOP did not start with the Tea Party and Trump. It started when Richard Nixon decided to exploit white Southern voters' resentment of the Dem-led passage of the Civil Rights Acts. It added momentum with the GOP's courting of evangelicals after Roe v. Wade. And became a flood of hate when Reagan made a direct appeal to white racism by opening his campaign in the same town in Mississippi where civil rights advocates had been murdered and later vilifying "welfare queens."
1
I applaud anyone adult enough to publicly acknowledge his or her wrongdoing, especially the deliberate ones. Congressman Walsh has done that and his mea culpa is convincing. His arguments against the continued tolerance of and excuse-making for the incorrigible and irredeemable occupant of the Oval Office are persuasive and spot-on. Let us give credit where it is due. And let's hope that more of those originally mesmerized by the marauder in the Oval will come to their senses and renounce him and his cruel, traitorous, vengeful, bigoted and ignorant ways, whether or not they publicly repent.
2
The English vocabulary needs a word for making an unwise, selfish choice and then disavowing it after getting everything you wanted and the consequences come due.
7
Like so many "Tea Party" Republicans, Mr. Walsh, with all due respect, wouldn't have voted for a Democrat if God him/herself was running with a 'D" next to their name. Trump was incompetent and his ignorance was on display during the entire Republican primary process. And yet so many Republicans took the "never Hillary" course and voted for him. And now what - if there is so much remorse on the part of these Republicans, where are the challengers? Mr. Walsh - the ball is in your (and your party's) court. I don't see your name on the ballot. Why not?
3
China has ripped us off for a long time (and billions of dollars were lost, which they gained). Nobody had the guts or the brains to take them on, except Mr. Tump. Furthermore, many countries had trade deals with us that were not at all in our favor or even fair. It seemed that very few in DC were actaully looking out for America, until Mr. Trump arrived. You have labeled the trade wars as "narcissistic." How about providing some real evidence of this?
1
Do people need to be reminded that Mr. Walsh's now "classic" Tea Party conservatism is not something to be remembered with warm nostalgia?
It was born of Koch Brothers funded lies, astro turf, fake grass roots protests and rallies, and racist messages that were not overshadowed by Trump, but rather he was one voice in an extremely ugly chorus.
A challenge from the right might be what Mr. Walsh wants, but a departure from the right is what we need.
5
Mr. Walsh's analysis of Mr. Trump's failings and dangers is clear, concise, and about 5 years too late.
And, while he issues the standard "I regret my mistakes" line used by politicians and professional athletes when caught behaving badly, he fails to recognize what I believe is a fundamental fact: Mr. Trump is the result of the Tea Party's arrogant, narrow and nasty usurpation of American politics.
In the modern era, it was they who made it OK to demean and denigrate their opponents, it was they who encouraged the notion that people with different points of view were un-American, and it was they who encouraged their followers to "take back" American from other Americans.
Yes, Mr. Walsh, we regret your mistakes, too.
3
You forget, Mr. Walsh, that Republicans will tolerate any behavior so long as it results in stealing the courts and legislating from the bench.
4
I hope someone in the GOP challenges him. I'm utterly, utterly sick of people like Jeff Flake and Ben Sasse and their sad-eyed bleating about how we all just need to be more polite to each other. They should be doing something—otherwise, they are complicit in this mess and that's how history will remember them.
5
BRAVO, Mr. Walsh, for speaking your mind when so many of your Republican peers stand by complicit in this disaster.
3
The enemy of my enemy is my friend. As distasteful as many of us find Tea party politicians - there's tremendous upside for the entire country if Trump faces a challenger from the right, because a Democrat will win. So...as strange as it feels - three cheers for this right-wing op-ed!
5
Amen Joe Walsh. Better late than never, with respect to you owning your "mistakes" and coming around to seeing Trump for exactly who he is--a divisive, lying, indecent con man with no morals, no skills for governing, a charlatan who is all about himself. Please pass the word to your fellow "conservatives". At this point it is not D vs. R in the traditional sense-- it is DECENCY vs. REPREHENSIBLE. Conservatives, like you, who own their mistakes and openly call out Trump for who he is will be taken seriously and listened to if they go back to the issues they once championed--fiscal responsibility and smaller federal government with states taking more responsibility for their constituents.
2
I don't listen to conservative radio, so the only Joe Walsh I know of is a guitar player with the Eagles. I've come to question the motives of conservatives over the years, and I'm 75 years old, because I've learned they only play nice when the want something. So what do you want?
When you come to the NY Times talking negative about Trump you're preaching to the choir. How many appearances have you made on FOX News lately? I've lived in Texas for over 40 years and in my opinion Tea Party and conservative values are euphemisms for reactionary hate and evil. So I question your motives!
6
The image of Trump seen around the world has dragged down America’s reputation.
The world is laughing at both Trump and the United States for the fraud they are.
How can any American hold his head high?
I can’t!
2
Whomever you refer in the Republican party would never say these things to Trump. Trump is the Republican party now.
1
Mr Walsh. Here’s hoping you mean it and can lead others with your thinking. I do believe it was quite easy to see DJT for who he always has been, but if you learned that supporting hat supports haters, then more power to you. You come close to saying that DJT doesn’t love America which would make him a one of a kind President(as he is) and that was never true of Nixon and I hope you realize it was not even close to true about Obama
2
Joe, who do you recommend to challenge Trump? How about you? I doubt there will be a Republican primary challenge to Trump. He has a primary base of voters that make it a fool's errand.
"I didn’t vote for Mr. Trump in 2016 because I liked him. I voted for him because he wasn’t Hillary Clinton. Once he was elected, I gave him a fair hearing, and tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. "
You are a big part of the reason America is in the dire straits it is in now. You were part of the many years long conspiracy mongers that lied through their teeth about Hillary and Hillary's record.
That you gave him the benefit of doubt, just says you were blinded by your hatred for Hillary and refused to see the reality that she was intelligent, competent and had America's interests at heart and NOT HER OWN. Donald trump has not changed, he is the very same racist, demagogic, barely literate, unfit for office man that he was in 2016.
Don't expect us to laud you because you have finally seen what most of us knew from day one. WE have had enough. Enough of every conservative enabler, and while you may denounce him now--you are responsible for electing and enabling him.
And I do appreciate your speaking up. Too little, too late.
3
Stating (correctly) that "Trump Needs a Primary Challenge" won't go anywhere without the mobilization of public support and recognition of the need for that challenge. How to do this is simpler than it sounds.
The theme is "the lies he has told us; the hidden truths he refuses to disclose and their financial and social costs to all of us":
1. No tax return disclosures because Trump is a lousy businessman. His tax returns will reveal this. WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO HIDE MR PRESIDENT?
2. Trump's false claims of "national emergencies' on trade and immigration. They don't make America great; they impoverish America.
a. The financial costs to American businesses of both are enormous. SHOW THEM.
b.More subtle and hidden from view, are the costs to American democracy of evasion of legislative and judicial checks and balances on executive authority. SHOW THEM
1
I want to be sympathetic to remorseful Republicans, however when someone admits he voted for this unqualified disgrace of a president, because "he was not Hillary Clinton" -- I'm sorry. It doesn't justify what you did.
3
to challenge would be political suicide. not many folks eager to do that.
Nice to hear a Republican to speak truth to power. But his words will fall on deaf ears just as have had others before him. One thing about Trump is that he has brought hypocrisy to a level never before seen.
1
I agree that Trump deserves a primary challenge. What I also find infuriating about this article is Trump's conduct opens up the space for men like Mr. Walsh to suddenly proclaim themselves wisened when they planted the seeds of hatred that Trump is now effectively mobilizing. A few previous statements from Mr. Walsh:
On June 19, 2014, Walsh was removed from his radio show for using racially charged language.
On July 7, 2016, the night of the 2016 shooting of Dallas police officers, Walsh wrote on Twitter, "This is now war. Watch out Obama. Watch out Black Lives Matter punks. Real America is coming after you."
On October 24, 2016, Walsh wrote on Twitter, "On November 8th, I'm voting for Trump. On November 9th, if Trump loses, I'm grabbing my musket. You in?"
On September 23, 2017, Walsh described Stevie Wonder as "Another ungrateful black multi millionaire" after Wonder had taken a knee in at his concert in protest of police brutality.
6
Since the republican party is broken, they should now support the finalist from the democratic primary. With trump they will get nothing. Once trump is out of office, they can start to rebuild the party.
Mr. Walsh...you feel so strongly...RUN IN THE REPUBLICAN PRIMARY...or be gone!
2
Well, Mr. Walsh, if you are so disenchanted with Trump, why don't you run against him? You have the political experience and conservative cred. Talk is cheap. Do the walk.
1
The country needs to defeat Trump to save itself in 2020 so its all hands on deck and I welcome Joe Walsh to the fight. It may be corny to say it but in the end love conquers hate and Trump is the most hateful man ever to be president.
1
Mr Walsh says he joined the Tea Party movement in order to "restrain executive power and reduce the debt." Not to mention a prime motivation for the movement, shock and dismay at having a black president.
1
There IS a fearless challenger! @GovBillWeld
will have our votes in the R primary to send 45 home early! Then we can have a true grown-up general election. 1st time R voter. Always an Independent voter.
1
What a shame you weren't discerning enough prior to the election to realize the con. No incumbent who has a primary challenge has ever been re-elected. Thank you Bill Weld...
4
Well said, and I applaud any fellow citizen- and especially any republican, conservative citizen- who calls out mr trump's failure to not only be a decent occupant of the office, but his failure to represent conservative, coherent views.
3
Who is worse, someone who acts irrationally, even illegally, or the people who enable that person to act that way?
People don't like to admit they made mistakes. Given Trump's gutter actions and that Republicans still support him, I don't know what more he can do that will peel away support for him. The Republican party IS Trump.
This election is a mandate on Trump and his actions. It is going to come down to turnout. Can Dem's and the few real independents turnout in greater numbers than the Trump-ites. Plans and programs are secondary, unless the plan or program is to defeat Trump and the R's in Congress.
1
I commend Walsh for his insightful analysis and willingness to admit past faults, especially in the forum of the NYT. Predictably (and understandably) many readers reject his offering and react with bitterness.
But if we are ever going to heal the wounds in this country between conservatives and liberals, perhaps we should extend an olive branch to Walsh and others like him.
Maybe America needs a reconciliation commission like the one in South Africa used to help overcome the legacy of apartheid. I for one am willing to forgive if we can move forward in a spirit of cooperation and mutual respect. The alternative of ongoing poisonous bitterness seems to be a doomed strategy.
4
@Alice In Wonderland Well said. We need reconciliation. Thank you for your common sense comments
1
Please run Mr. Walsh! None of us would be giving news to you that your chances might be slim, but it would open up many avenues of discussion that might just lead to positive changes.
2
Congressman Walsh, you have said it all. You have a lot to complain. After the fact.
"Trump Needs a Primary Challenge". "The case for a contender from the Right". Who will that be? Will there be anyone coming forward for the challenge? As we all see it, and seeing no one saying anything, all in the Party feel comfortable and contented. So why worry?
If Trump is not doing anything right, where are the questions and the challenges? You do not have to wait for the next elections?
1
Can't believe all the folks on the Left giving Walsh a hard time for this piece. The more voices on the Right who carry some weight with Republicans that call for a primary challenge the better. I follow Walsh on Twitter. He's a steady critic of Trump. Do you want Trump out or not? Get over the Tea Party connection and focus on what's important.
10
Walsh should admit that his vote for Trump was wrong and yes, un-American since he’s using that term.
@Tracy Honestly it doesn't matter. He's a connected Republican. So is Anthony Scaramucci (not a fan) who is also calling for a primary challenger. If more insiders arrive at that conclusion it has a better chance of happening.
The Koch brothers may sponsor a strong Libertarian team. Bill Weld did run as a Libertarian last election. Team him up with Justin Amash. They could be a credible alternative to Trump for many right wing voters.
3
I listened to Governor Bill Weld this weekend at the Iowa State Fair. He made more sense to me than any Presidential candidate out there - and he is a gentleman to boot!
4
Mr. Walsh, upon reading your heartfelt and accurate depiction of the state of the GOP, I encourage YOU to be the challenger you seek.
While I vehemently disagreed with you in the past, I respect your ability to admit to the err in your former ways and feel that you have the moral compass to lead the GOP back to American values while rejecting the racism and kleptocracy of the current administration. Just do it.
6
A refreshing voice on the right.
4
The tea party is the embodiment of idolaters: they make economics a god, the alpha and the omega. No principles, no morals, no humanity, can compete with the place money holds for them.
Despite Walsh's thin "I regret," I can't believe he is not fundamentally a trump party loyalist; perhaps without the current overt iteration of trumpism, but still the same foundation. His visceral hatred of Obama and Hillary says a lot: it is about who they are (trump wasn't Hillary), or whom he thinks they are (Obama wasn't Christian), not about this loftier claim that he now attempts, of "legitimate differences ...on policy." His emotional and inexplicable hatred of Obama and liberals in general was the norm for Republicans, and it's sunk to a swampier depth in the trump party.
As far as we know, devolution doesn't happen, and the trump party is what decades of right-wing politics has evolved into. There is no Republican Party, there is only the trump party. The tea party was the same species as the trump party; no difference at all except when they were dominant.
7
I wish the NYT would not have given Mr. Walsh this space to publicize his radio show and attempt to make the likes of him look reasonable.
Any informed person knew what Donald Trump was long before 2016.
The Tea Party is mostly uneducated cranks ... Trump's base.
Mr. Walsh, please go away.
12
If the rest of us would just operate as the People's Glorious State of California does...
Trump would be lumped in with all the other twenty-somethings in that metaphorical NYPD holding cell called a debate stage, where they could zing him with coordinated cliquish cruel mean-person one-liners – while projecting his tax returns onto the stage screen every time he spoke...
Along the lines of "Yo Presidency"...
For example:
“Yo Presidency is so lame, Vlad’s KGB head just quit to cop a $25M tell-almost-all book deal about what really really went on – intro by Chris Steele”
For clarity, Putin’s actually OK with it, so long as he doesn’t violate the NDA or the personal loyalty oath...
“Yo Presidency is so lame, Pence lifting applause lines from Biden’s retorts at last VP debate – now that gaffes are cool again”
For clarity, these would be for the anticipated mano e womano VP smackdown with Liz...
For further clarity, that’s Spanish – trying to pick up 2-3 more recommends...
(drop mic)
(back to day job)
Joe Walsh:
"Enough, sir. We’ve had enough of your indecency."
Joe Welch:
"Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"
How can I trust the words of someone who voted for a monster because his name wasn't Hillary Clinton. Trump showed you exactly who he was during his vile campaign. Mr. Walsh, please peddle your wares elsewhere, pardon the pun.
4
OMG! After all this it shall be the Tea Party who saves America? Didn’t see that coming.
3
Wow, A real portrait in courage! Thank god this right wing apparatchik making his living off wingnut welfare has found the courage to submit this to the Times. Maybe he should go on fox and try selling it there.
7
So you voted for a known race-baiting, misogynistic, dirty-dealing, failed businessman instead of a well-known, dedicated, public servant who arguably is more moderate than her predecessor......
What would be your position today if Trump won as a Democrat?
4
A guy who failed to pay child support for years is going to claim the Tea Party mantle and lecture on about fiscal responsibility. Please.....
Lovely that you are now seeing Trump for who he has always been but you and your ilk are the reason he was foisted upon America. The absolute firehouse of ignorance that you spewed along with Limbaugh, Fox, Beck et al, brought forth a group of voters that are ignorant, angry and woefully under informed. Now that you see the results you are chagrined. Well, welcome aboard, but forgive me if my arms aren’t as open as some others.
10
Put your money where your mouth is, Mr. Walsh. Perhaps you should consider running against Trump.
1
You haven't learned a thing which is typical of a hard right Republican.
Obama saved the economy despite the ignorant, scorched earth policy of Republicans. I don't care that you think Trump has also run up the debt (he has). Your notions of cutting spending are based on racist, poor people hating, illogical, fact free nonsense.
2
The republic has nothing to fear from a true honest conservative. 45 is none of those, and perhaps now we have finally “hit bottom” where the useful idiot can no longer be tolerated.
As I was conversing last night with a friend, the people that voted for him only hoping for the best, do not want to endure four more years of this. Whether they stay home or vote Democratic, who knows. But they won’t be voting for him.
Which is what the entire Republican establishment knows, and Walsh is saying.
2
Compared to Trump, who would constitute "a contender from the right"? Attila the Hun?
2
Hahahahaha! The Tea Party was about fiscal responsibility! You're hilarious, Joe. You should quit radio and do standup.
The Tea Party, which may have cloaked itself in a thin veil of financial responsibility, gained traction only because of the SKIN COLOR of Barack Obama. You could have told your supporters that the Tea Party was literally about high tea prices caused by Obama and they would have voted exactly as instructed. How do I know this? They're all still Republicans, members of a party that stands for nothing now except xenophobia, racism and hatred. (And let's not forget making sure a woman has no say over her own uterus.)
And let's be clear: Your questioning of Obama's religion is NO different than Trump questioning his citizenship. Disgusting.
You helped create Trump. Own him. This column is too little too late.
6
Translation:
"Please, please, find us a candidate (R) who will go back to using dog whistles!"
2
Trumpublicanism was on the Republican agenda long before Trump came along to embody it. It wasn't Trump who transformed the Party of Lincoln into the party of the neo-confederates, rebel flag and white resentment. He just took hold and ran with it, all the way to the White House. And the Tea Party greased the skids, aided by big money from billionaires who thought they could control the slide. The TP was a con game that opened the door to the Con Artist In Chief. Your participation in the whole birtherism con tells the story: you were a sap, Mr Walsh, and what's worse, you helped raise a legion of saps along with you. Sorry you don't like where it landed you. Even sorrier that you saddled the majority of the rest of us with the con even though we saw through it. "Because Hillary!" he says. Right. And the pea is under that middle cup, how much you wanna bet?
3
Why on earth is the Times giving space to Joe "You Lie!" Walsh? I'm no Republican, but if the Times wants to provide space to a GOP member who is taking action to primary Trump, Bill Weld was just a phone call away.
Walsh's lies while in office and his epic fundraising off his "You Lie" moment disqualify him from critiquing the very same things in Trump.
5
@Joe Walsh: I agree with everything you have said, and you backed up your claims to knowledge with independently verifiable facts. Good job Mr. Walsh.
So...
If no one from the right has yet stepped forward to challenge Donald Trump, why don't you step forward? Go on. Would you like some ketchup with your nice warm pile of words?
Now that you've committed suicide within the Trumpist Party (formerly known as "Republicans") and clearly are no Democrat, and thus have no base for any future political forays, I wish you continued success in your broadcasting career, although you don't sound quite unhinged enough to thrive in that arena.
Maybe open a car wash?
2
what goes around.... if you were to reform the inherent tea party bigotry, you could hear what the other folks are saying. But you reap what you sow.
4
It never ceases to amaze me when the conservative movement that birthed Trump seeks to distance itself from him. Birtherism, Trumpism and the tea party movement go hand in hand, all built on the rejection of the first African American presidency and the bigotry Obama inspired. Now some of the tea party movement has cause to question the results of their fanaticism, as if an openly racist president is distinct from their movement. He isn’t and they are and always have been populated by cranks and racists hiding behind a small government agenda. Nope joe, ain’t buying it, not by a long shot. You own Trump he’s one of yours, sad eh.
2
Someone just earned themselves a nasty Tweet or five from you-know-who.
1
Much too little and way too late Mr. Walsh. You were part of the problem, you and your splinter group gave us Bone Spurs and now you have buyer's remorse? You were on the front lines when you bashed Obama. Apology is not accepted. It may assuage your guilt but you and your party have done so much damage to our country.
3
So challenge him Joe. Why not? Like the two dozen Democrats you will get instant notoriety.
I am sick and tired of reading about what Republicans say in private about Trump and you sir are too late for the game. Your party put forth a hack, a mean spirited reality star, the repeated bankruptcies, the conspiracy theories, a crude, callous PT Barnum for the highest office in the land who would have failed a security clearance with just his overt behavior. Speaking of Patriotism, Trump harassed and harranged Obama, a newly elected President, over his birth certificate and Harvard records. No reason, just because he could, he is a parasite that thrives on turmoil and your party is responsible.
9
But at least he isn’t Hillary Clinton, and doesn’t that warm the cockles of your heart, Mr. Walsh? Shouldn’t you be happy with your choice? You knew what he was when you picked him.
5
I think if you explained more deeply how and why it happened that you stooped so low as to question Obama’s religious affiliation, it would go a long way toward giving you more credibility, more redemption, and more impact in the lessons you are trying to impart.
3
This article is ridiculous. Joe Walsh chose to vote for a clearly unstable person. He, like so many Republicans, groan and moan about the results but refuse to put an end to this reign of terror by a modern Caligula. The only answer is to impeach this unfit occupant of the White House. To quote another more stable Roman from Robert Grave's, "I, Claudius": "Let all the poison that lurk in the mud, hatch out." We might not survive until Election 2020.
1
Joe Walsh, It’s disgusting to see you cry in the Times over the spilled milk of the Republican disaster, claiming that conservative views have any traction in the Trump era, That old claptrap doesn’t win anymore. We are sick of it being rehashed in the conservative way forward. Look where it has brought us. Trump is your guy and there is no going back to the times when America was great under conservative Republican leadership. Face it, you and your conservatives are has-beens. You need a new tune to sing to America as the damage done under Trump cannot be repaired with your unrealistic diatribe. Go rant someplace else. Trump has destroyed the conservative view and the Republican Party. You are a victim of it. The majority of the country is looking forward to a different political alternative than yours.
1
Take your medicine Republicans. You need to give up the presidency so it can be restored and purged of Trump stench. It will rake four years at least to undue his institutional damage to our nation. You also need at least 4 years to rebuild and restore the moral base of your party. Just accept the democratic candidate, do your penance, and help role back the outrageous giveaways to the wealthy and support restoration of democracy’s ideals. Support someone who can think, complete sentences properly, not tweet idiotic statements incessantly, not lie prolifically and outrageously, respect women, and not be a supporter of racism and white supremacy. Support someone who has empathy, is not a classical narcissist and who at least tries to unite rather than divide us. History will already record your acquiescence to this most incompetent and unqualified man. Too late for that. But perhaps you can start to restore some sense of honor to the party of Lincoln and erase the legacy of self enrichment in plain sight by the Trump family that you have tolerated thus far. Let’s hope so. Regain at least a grudging respect from the rest of us, please. Oh, and please dump the sycophantic Trump enablers in the senate while you are at it. Thanks.
1
In order to have a new candidate that could truly challenge Twitler, the Republican Party will need to unwind the real conspiracy: that one between Russia, China and the other strongman right wing fascist dictatorships. The opportunity for a different kind of republican to run is far gone. They lost their backbone to the NRA and fake news too long ago.
Mr. Walsh, if I may, it was you and your Tea Party Conservatives, which help create the situation which got Trump elected. By doing, what you people did, you awaken the white supremacist movement . By doing what you did, you made the economic recovery only good for a very few. By doing what you did, you obstructed any work President Obama tried to do. By doing what you did, you created a situation where mass shootings have common place. Finally, you and your cohorts, formed the Tea Party Caucus, not for the reasons you state, but because an African American was elected President of the United States.
Mr. Walsh, Trump doe snot need a conservative opponent, because they will probably be worse than Trump is. What this country needs is that the GOP is purged of people like you and your way of thinking. Your spewing of hate, now on radio, and by your Tea Party caucus partners, have created the ugly situation this country is dealing with today.
1
Ah yes, no reasonable person had any idea that Trump was a racist and bigoted ignoramus until after he took office, and it was important to give him the benefit of the doubt. Wait, what?
This column was terrifying. Yes, Trump wasn’t Hilary. Trump was exactly himself and what he is now — and you (and millions like you) voted for him anyway. You’re only waking up just now to the truth that conservatism rotted away from the inside out?
The scary thing is there are so many like you.
3
Republicans, like yourself, have been toying and taunting the far right wing of your party for decades.....sometimes overtly and sometime subliminally. You, sir (as you admit) have been one of them, and now you are seeing what this constant drone of hate and conspiracy theories has wrought. This is your own doing. The Republicans have been completely complicit in Trump's racism and disfunction. In order to heal the country and correct our course it is Republicans who must stand up and say "no". Getting another right wing candidate is not a substitute. That's the easy way out. To make up for all the decades of hate, what the party must do is show that they hold country above party or political power.
That means voting for Weld, another moderate, or even holding you nose for the Democratic nominee. Are you ready to do that? My sense is no, and THAT'S what the problem is right now. You are cowards.
This sounds like an arsonist who burned down the house regretting he's lost his favorite dress shirt.
6
It's interesting to see that Congressman Walsh has "gotten religion" as it were. However, it would appear it's a little late in the game, after Trump has burned down the house.
It's also nice that Mr. Walsh is apologizing for his "hate". Unfortunately, it's also a little late in the game. Mr. Walsh's invective against Pres. Obama draws a straight line to Donald Trump.
What we have have found is that the Tea Party is weak Tea indeed.
5
Then here's the real question, Mr. Walsh. If there is no challenger, and the general election arrives, will you vote for the Democratic candidate or will you just stay home? Voting third party, or not voting at all, will have no impact on removing this man from office. Republicans have to put country first and remove this man from office, no matter who the Dem candidate is.
2
Kasich.
I would have voted for him in 2016 and I liked when he said that being in New York made him “feel young again. “
2
Looking at many of the comments it is clear that everyone knows the disaster that is trump. What is missing is any serious attempt to help Walsh find someone to challenge him. Trump's followers (and Mitch) will all jump into his abyss together, praising his name as they do. People, we need a plan that is better than just "anyone else". My suggestion is Huntsman.
6
Many years ago, proponents of conservative values began to search for political support by appealing to hate-motivated voters. They packaged their fiscal proposals and strict-constructionist legal approach along with just a bit of class or racial animus, an appeal to gun-totin' frontier values, and attacks on the easy targets of airheaded political correctness. But this was a dangerous game, and now all the demons have emerged. The once-respectable conservative point of view has been drowned out by naked racism, xenophobia, disdain for the successful and educated, and outright hatred of any form of expertise or fact-based analysis. Mr. Walsh feels remorse, and a few others probably do as well. But it's too little, too late. The credibility of so-called conservatism is shot for a generation, possibly forever.
21
Let's say Trump is indeed challenged by a Walsh-like tea party candidate but wins the Republican nomination anyway. Will Mr. Walsh support the Democratic candidate and encourage other tea party folk to do so? That would be the true test of Mr. Walsh's sincerity.
3
There are some gaping holes in this opinion piece. Walsh never says why he helped to spread slanderous lies about Obama, and why being a Muslim was in his opinion a terrible thing. I think he has a lot more explaining to do on that point.
He never says why he couldn't vote for Clinton. I’d like to hear the specific reason. Was it her policies (pretty much centrist Democratic) or was it some other lie like Benghazi or Whitewater etc drummed up and shouted infinite times by the Republican Party?
Also, anyone in politics who did not know exactly what kind of President Trump would be is either a complete idiot or is lying.
16
@Treetop: The original Tea Party was just a theft, because all the tea, in watertight casks, was recovered by crews waiting in boats, and found its way to market untaxed.
@Treetop and for that matter, why would Walsh post his piece in the NY Times which Trump voters don't (and probably can't) read? He should have submitted this to the WSJ or USA Today, at the very least.
I don't know how popular Mr. Walsh's radio show is, but his bio at the foot of the article indicates that it's nationally syndicated. He would, therefore, seem to be well positioned to influence his listeners, who are undoubtedly die-hard Trump voters, to understand the risk to the country of another four years under the current regime. I certainly hope he is echoing this column in every segment of every hour of every day he is on the air. If so, maybe he can help lower Trump's approval rating among Republican voters. I fear he is not.
4
It sounds as if Mr. Walsh is offering up himself as a possible contender against Trump. However it was his Tea Party that caused a lot of the problems we are now facing.
It is great to read his Mea Culpa, but more Republicans need to come forward and grow a spine, before I could seriously believe they actually care about the Country over Party.
We need more of this rhetoric and actions from more Republicans in Congress before I ever take the GOP seriously.
It is nice to read someone who actually mentions the Centrist Republican who was to take up the gauntlet challenging Trump. Bill Weld appears to be the only Republican who has a conscience.
4
As I did additional research on the ratings of Trump compared to past presidents (including the link included in this article) I am struck by how, when the information is included in an article with commentary provided by the author, how the references for other unpopular presidents only commented on Republican presidents and ignored the abysmal ratings that presidents like Johnson and Carter had as Democratic presidents had at times in their time in office. Why is that?
I have no guilt about being white, Irish American, middle class, politically independent, privileged, well educated, Catholic, married, straight, and Male. Donald Trump seems to have less guilt than I do and that demonstrates his good judgment and mental health.
We learn from our mistakes and move on. We don't let weak people with doubts about right and wrong get in the way. Their judgments generally lack all the facts and there standards allow for evil to fester.
Trump needs to continue to improve without getting weak or ambilivant. The GOP does not need a primary. Trump needs four more years.
Trump doesn’t believe that he needs forgiveness from God. Is that what they’re teaching you in church these days? In my Christian upbringing I seem to remember learning that we all need God’s forgiveness. I guess that has gone out the window.
1
You should then use your media platform to educate Trump's tone-deaf base in his lies and ruse and destruction to our nation.