Trump’s opponents on the Right are eager to launch a primary challenge contesting the president’s reelection efforts. But what they’ve offered so far isn’t much of an improvement at all.
In April, 2016 Libertarian Party vice-presidential candidate Bill Weld announced he was running against Trump for the Republican nomination this time around. But Weld only rejoined the GOP at the beginning of the year, so he has little major party name recognition to fall back on. In addition, he is a longtime supporter of abortion and has a dubious record on matters of religious liberty. These liberal positions make Weld a far-from-ideal option for Trump-frustrated conservatives.
Then on Sunday, talk radio host and former one-term congressman Joe Walsh became the second Republican to announce his candidacy. Walsh’s name is perhaps more recognizable than Weld’s, but not necessarily for good reasons.
Walsh was an outspoken Trump supporter during the campaign season and at the start of his term, even threatening to “grab a musket” if Trump lost. But worse than his unprincipled flip-flop on President Trump, Walsh’s history is filled with racist, violent, and bigoted statements, as documented by Washington Examiner reporter Jerry Dunleavy.
NEW: Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) is worse than you think. I went through hundreds of his social media posts: Walsh pushed racism, promoted conspiracy theories like Obama being Muslim and Seth Rich, advocated violence, was shamelessly bigoted, & so much more.https://t.co/Q4774eZeJ1
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) August 27, 2019
There is something to be said for supporting a primary challenger even when their chances of successfully defeating the incumbent are next to nothing. Principled Trump critics aren’t beneath doing so again, given another option on the ballot. However, Walsh’s candidacy looks too similar to the Trump behavior they routinely criticize.
A portion of Trump’s base is made up of people who were on board the “Make America Great Again” train from the beginning. These voters are committed to the Trump brand, and will not waver. Yet the other portion of the president’s support is those who very reluctantly selected him at the ballot box. While they didn’t agree with Trump’s tactics or tone, at least he wasn’t Hillary Clinton.
Now, with another Trump victory a very real possibility, Weld and Walsh have become “the lesser of two evils” in the 2020 scenario. How exactly is “he’s not the best choice, but at least he’s not Trump” so different from “he’s not the best choice, but at least he’s not Hillary?”
Those who criticized choosing the least bad candidate in 2016, in this case, Trump, are more than ready to do something similar now.
To be fair, Bill Weld, while not really a conservative, carries himself with a professional and polished demeanor. He does not have the history that either Trump or Walsh have when it comes to insulting language that crosses the line of decorum on a routine basis. Withholding support from Weld has everything to do with policy, rather than personal flaws. On the other hand, Walsh has publicly behaved in ways that are equivalent to Trump’s misdeeds. Opposing Walsh’s long-shot candidacy is the only consistent course of action for those who have condemned Trump’s words and actions.
Still, after his official campaign announcement on Sunday, Walsh addressed some of these concerns.
He says the difference between them is that Trump has ‘never apologized for anything he’s done or said.’
At best, Walsh’s apology is too little, too late. His support of Trump, along with his own hateful language, helped to stoke the fires of division among not only political parties but even ethnic groups. The best remedy for that is not running his own presidential campaign, but learning from the past and sitting this one out.
When pressed by the media or voters, what assurance is there that Walsh won’t go down the same road of irresponsible behavior once again?
We must face the facts: Short of an absolute, precedent-setting miracle, President Trump will be the 2020 Republican nominee. The only other primary options may seem a great departure from the president himself, but in reality, they are filling the role Trump occupied as a candidate only a few short years ago.
Kimberly Ross (@SouthernKeeks) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog and a columnist at Arc Digital.
