Six months and dozens of media hits later, Joe Walsh has ended his primary bid against President Trump.
Walsh’s campaign, which won him a grand total of 348 votes in the Iowa caucuses, never had a chance. Trump is wildly popular among Republican voters, and his base is arguably as unified behind him as it has been at any point in his presidency. But even if Walsh did have a shot at the Republican nomination, he would still have been the wrong man for the job. Conservatives who oppose Trump tend to dislike him for reasons of principle and temperament. Walsh’s controversial history proves that he is a man without principle, or reason, or tact.
During Barack Obama’s presidency, Walsh made a slew of racist and bigoted comments, questioning whether Obama was a Muslim and insinuating that this would be a bad thing if it were true. He called Obama an “enemy,” complained about the fact that racial slurs aren’t socially acceptable, and even advocated for violence against the “Black Lives Matter punks.”
Yet, Walsh expected conservatives to believe he was the reasonable alternative to Trump. “No other Republican stepped up,” he told voters in Iowa earlier this week. “No other Republican stepped up to say, ‘This is not my Republican Party.’”
Then, Walsh tried to distance himself from the Joe Walsh who, as of two years ago, was still insisting he “has a right to call Obama a Muslim.” He told Iowa voters, “I’m not cruel, I’m not a bigot, I’m not a racist, I don’t lie, I don’t invite Russia and China and Ukraine to screw with our elections.”
In 2016, Walsh avidly supported Trump. Right before the election, he tweeted, “On November 8th, I’m voting for Trump. On November 9th, if Trump loses, I’m grabbing my musket. You in?”
He later turned on Trump when it became politically convenient. This opened up an entirely new audience for his radio career. Walsh’s presidential bid grew that audience too. His run for the White House might have failed, as he knew it would, but Walsh still made the most of it. His short-lived candidacy made him somewhat relevant, if only for a moment. But that was all Walsh needed: He made the rounds on cable networks, eager to dunk on Trump, and in doing so, he made a name for himself beyond just the unhinged former congressman who lost his seat in 2012.
Walsh lost to Trump, but he still won his five minutes of fame. In politics, everyone wins. It just depends on what you make of it.
