Joe Walsh, one of the few Republicans mounting a presidential challenge to President Trump, said he will not vote to re-elect the president if his bid for the GOP's 2020 nomination fails.
"Hell no," Walsh told Cheddar on Thursday. "I'm running because I think he is unfit and I think he is a danger to this country. I could never support that."
Walsh, a former Congressman from Illinois and conservative radio host, launched his campaign last month by trying to make the case that Trump is uniquely and morally unfit to lead the nation. His bid, however, is widely seen as quixotic given the strong support for Trump among Republican voters and the GOP establishment. Several polls put Trump's approval ratings among Republicans as high as 80 to 90 percent.
Yet Walsh, who was elected to Congress as a staunch Tea Party Republican and was an ardent supporter of Trump in 2016, said the president is "destroying in the Republican brand" with his rash behavior — and that support for him endures simply because there is no Republican alternative.
"This guy in the White House lies almost every time he opens his mouth. He's cruel, he's bigoted — he's just mean," Walsh said.
Critics note, however, that Walsh largely came to right-wing prominence peddling conspiracy theories and making bigoted comments himself. Most notably, his repeated false claims that former President Obama is Muslim and was not born in the U.S. On New Years Eve in 2016, for instance, Walsh tweeted "Obama is a Muslim. Happy New Year!"
Walsh has also routinely attacked organizations like Black Lives Matter, defended the use of homophobic slurs, and has been criticized for fanning the flames — and inciting violence — around cultural sensitivities.
In 2016, after several police officers were killed in Dallas, Texas by an African American gunman, Walsh tweeted "This is now war. Watch out Obama. Watch out black lives matter punks. Real America is coming after you." The tweet was quickly deleted but sparked shock and outrage. Months later, when Walsh supported then-candidate Trump, he tweeted that "if Trump loses, I'm grabbing my musket. You in?"
Walsh has since apologized for his lengthy list of bigoted and controversial remarks, including the racist comments about Obama. He also told MSNBC last month that "I wouldn't call myself a racist, but ... I've said racist things on Twitter. There's no doubt about it."
Walsh has also ceded that his language — especially his rhetoric on Twitter — mirrored that of Trump and his ilk; and sowed resentment into certain voting blocks that contributed to Trump's electoral victory. Yet the difference between Trump and himself, Walsh has said, is that he has apologized.
Walsh is joined by former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld and former South Carolina Congressman Mark Sanford in challenging Trump in the upcoming Republican primary. All three candidates argue that Trump is particularly unqualified to occupy the Oval Office.
"Every day and week that goes by, this president proves more and more that he is unfit and I think Republican voters will welcome a primary challenge," Walsh said.
Walsh and the other candidates, however, faces significant hurdles to beating Trump. Republican officials in several states this week — South Carolina, Nevada, Arizona, and Kansas — canceled their primaries altogether. Foregoing the elections, which proponents and Trump say will save the GOP money, will result in the state's delegates automatically going to Trump.
"We're going to fight it with everything we've got … This kind of thing cannot stand in America," Walsh said regarding the canceled primaries, which he said disenfranchises Republican voters.
Trump on Monday dismissed his challengers, saying "I don't even know who they are ... I guess it's a publicity stunt."
Andrew Cuomo is reportedly planning his comeback. According to the Wall Street Journal, the former New York governor and his aides are considering how to make his first public appearance since he abruptly resigned last August amid sexual harassment allegations. Jake Lahut, politics reporter for Insider, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss Cuomo's potential return to politics.
The pressure is on for UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson - after his closest aides handed in their resignations this week.
It comes after a report found that 16 parties had taken place at Downing Street while Covid lockdown protocols were in place in the region. Ari Aramesh, Attorney & National Security/Foreign Policy Analyst joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
President Biden has ordered about 3,000 U.S. troops to Eastern Europe as Russia refuses to back off its pressure on Ukraine. The deployments to Poland, Germany, and Romania are a show of support to NATO allies concerned about a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine. This is in addition to the 8,500 troops put on high alert. David Tafuri, former Obama campaign foreign policy advisor and former State Department official, joined Cheddar to discuss what this move means for U.S.-Russia relations.
After tennis player Peng Shuai made an explicit sexual assault allegation toward a former Chinese government official, she disappeared from the public eye. Her recent reappearance with the IOC alongside a Chinese Olympic committee official raised eyebrows and renewed concerns for her safety. Asian affairs expert Gordon Chang, author of "The Coming Collapse of China," joined Wake Up With Cheddar to discuss Peng Shuai's retraction and the various human rights controversies swirling at the Beijing games. "It's clear that the IOC was working with Beijing to make sure that she did not express herself freely," Chang said. "So really this is the IOC being complicit in these mechanisms of control over Peng."
The opening ceremony of the 2022 winter Olympics has kicked off at the Beijing national stadium. 150,000 spectators are in attendance for the games inside the 'closed loop' system separating Olympic personnel from the public. Cheddar News spoke with Brian Cazenueve, Sports Illustrated contributor, to share the highlights you may have missed and much more.
The Biden Administration is set to revise federal rules to address potential security risks from foreign-owned apps, mainly Tiktok. This comes after the White House opted not to pursue a forced shutdown of the Chinese-owned video sharing platform. Under these new rules, federal oversight would be expanded to explicitly include apps that could be used by foreign adversaries to steal or otherwise obtain data. Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Craig Singleton, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Although this week's weather is predicted to be less severe than the 2021 storm, Texans are preparing for the worst - stocking up on supplies and emptying shelves in grocery stores, once again. Some Texans still have not recovered from last year's tragedy, and are heading into the next few weeks with anxiety for what's to come. Leslie Beyer, CEO of the Houston-based energy workforce & technology council, joins Cheddar News to discuss if the Texas grid will fail again.
Student loan debt continues to be a major concern for tens of millions of Americans who collectively owe about $1.7 trillion. Black college students often take on larger amounts of student debt in order to pay for a higher education. In turn, they are more likely to struggle post-graduation with repaying their debt, creating a racial wealth gap divide. Andre Perry, senior fellow at Brookings Institution joined All Hands to help break down the black student debt crisis.
After two NYPD officers were killed with an illegal gun, President Biden made a trip to New York City to speak on the issue of gun violence fed by the "iron pipeline" of illegal firearms that make their way from the South to the Big Apple. Kris Brown, the president of the gun violence prevention organization Brady United, joined Cheddar to discuss what this visit from the president could mean for the future of gun laws in America. "He's asked Congress to pass things like expanding the Brady background check system, but with the filibuster a barrier to so much action right now in the Congress, he's looking at solutions that involve funding at the federal level and really involve enforcement."
