Joe Walsh Announces Longshot Bid to Challenge Trump for Nomination

While about half of America scratched their heads and said, “The guy from the Eagles?” former Congressman Joe Walsh announced this weekend that he will officially challenge President Donald Trump for the 2020 Republican presidential nomination. Walsh, who served one term in Congress when he was elected amid the Tea Party wave of 2010, has had a change of heart about the strong passions he once inflamed surrounding the conservative movement. In a “please forgive me” style interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Sunday, Walsh expressed regret for supporting Trump in 2016.

“I helped create Trump,” Walsh said. “I feel responsible for that.”

But that wasn’t quite enough to satisfy the liberal press. Stephanopoulos went on to challenge Walsh with some of his old remarks, including the time he called Barack Obama a Muslim and defined him as an “enemy” to the United States. Walsh, of course, now disavows those comments.

“This president made me reflect on some of the things I’ve said in the past,” Walsh said. “I went beyond the policies and ideas and said some ugly things about President Obama that I regret.”

Asked if he still believes what he once said about President Obama, Walsh said: “God no. And I have apologized for that.”

Uh-huh. Well, we suppose we’ll have to wait a few years and see if Walsh will apologize for saying the things he said about Trump on Sunday, because he said a lot.

“I’m going to run for president. I’m running because he’s unfit; somebody needs to step up and there needs to be an alternative. The country is sick of this guy’s tantrum — he’s a child,” Walsh argued.

“He lies every time he opens his mouth,” he continued. “He’s nuts, he’s erratic, he’s cruel, he stokes bigotry.”

This is a man who is now determined to stay within the boundaries of “policies and ideas”?

Walsh was back at it the next day on “Morning Joe,” insisting that the GOP was in electoral trouble if Trump wound up at the top of the ticket once again.

“If he’s our nominee in 2020, the Republican Party is going to get spanked, because young people don’t like Trump. Women don’t like Trump and people who live in the suburbs don’t like Trump,” Walsh said.

Right. Women, young people, and suburban voters are clamoring for (checks notes) Joe Walsh, though.