Joe Walsh, a conservative former member of Congress and talk radio host, plans to announce a Republican primary challenge to Donald Trump in an attempt to weaken the president with an attack from the right.
And other presidential critics – including John Kasich and Jeff Flake – have made mutterings about the 2020 race as an anti-Trump movement inside the GOP struggles to gain traction.
So far only one Republican has formally challenged the sitting president – former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld, whose campaign has barely made a blip on the political radar – but Walsh is expected to announce his bid this weekend, according to multiple reports.
Walsh, who served one term in Congress before becoming a fiery talk radio host, slammed Trump as a ‘horrible human being’ that he would ‘punch’ every single day during the campaign.
Joe Walsh, a conservative former member of Congress and talk radio host, plans to announce a Republican primary challenge to Donald Trump
It’s unlikely any primary challenger would pose a genuine threat to President Trump
‘He’s a horrible human being,’ Walsh told CNN Thursday morning. ‘He’s a bad, bad guy. And every single day you, I, and everybody watching us right now is reminded of how damn unfit he is.’
But challenging Trump is an uphill battle and it’s unlikely any contender would pose a genuine threat to the president.
Trump’s approval ratings among Republicans sits at 88 percent, according to Gallup tracking, and it is politically difficult to oust an incumbent during a primary. And then there’s the money: Team Trump raised $105 million in April, May and June alone.
Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said any challenger to the president was ‘doomed.’
‘They’re all doomed to certain failure,’ he told DailyMail.com.
Walsh, 57, said any Republican who entered the primary would have to fight fire with fire.
‘The only way you primary Donald Trump and beat him is to expose him for the con man he is,’ Walsh said. ‘That’s what I’d do. I’d punch him every single day.’
‘We’ve never been in a situation where every single time a president opened his mouth, it was a lie. I don’t give a damn what your politics are. That’s got to be called out,’ he noted.
Walsh supported Trump in 2016 but said it was the president’s press conference with Russia President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki last year – where Trump seemed to support Russia’s assertion it didn’t interfere in the last presidential election over U.S. intelligence reports that it did – that turned him against the president.
While in Congress he was a favorite of the conservative Tea Party movement and made a name for himself among the right wing in the Republican Party.
Walsh criticized his fellow Republicans for not calling out Trump when the situation warrants.
‘The Republican Party will always regret the fact that they did not call this man out. Somebody has to,’ he said.
‘There are bigger names than me. There are bigger former senators and members of Congress. But none of them have the courage to step up and challenge him,’ he said.
John Kasich, who ran in the 2016 Republican primary, is headed to New Hampshire next month as he makes mumblings about challenging President Trump
Jeff Flake said he’s gotten calls from GOP donors who want an alternative to the president
Mark Sanford acknowledged it’s unlikely to win against Trump in the primary but said a primary bid could make a political point
Walsh wouldn’t publicly commit to a campaign but said any decision would be made by Labor Day.
‘If somebody’s going to get in there and go after him, it’s got to be done soon. You’re running out of time,’ he told CNN. ‘Labor Day’s in a week. If you want to get in, you’ve got to get in within the next week or so.’
Walsh’s expected entry comes as Kasich, the former Ohio governor who also ran against Trump in the 2016 primary, plans a trip to New Hampshire next month.
Kasich has made mutterings about challenging the president since the 2018 election but has yet to formally pull the trigger on a bid.
Flake, the former Arizona senator who was Trump’s bete noir in Congress, told The Washington Post he is receiving recruitment calls from Republican donors who want an alternative to the president.
‘They are wondering, if the economy isn’t stellar next year, how is the party going to win? By the president offending more people?’ he said.
And while he said he is unlikely to mount a bid, he kept the door slightly open.
Mark Sanford, a former GOP congressman who earned Trump’s wrath, has sounded out activists about a presidential campaign.
Sanford, who supported Trump’s 2016 campaign, later criticized the president’s immigration policies and encouraged Trump to release his tax returns.
The president turned on him in the 2018 primary and Sanford lost to a GOP challenger.
He acknowledged any presidential challenge was highly unlikely to produce a victory but said it was a chance to make a political point.
‘If [Trump] gives you a nickname and has surrogates rough you up, you could get a message out and create a national conversation on what it means to be a Republican these days and that could probably be worth the endeavor,’ Sanford told The Post.
So far only former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld has formally challenged Trump but his campaign has struggled to gain traction
Walsh argues there is an anti-Trump brigade among Republicans.
‘I’ve been really surprised by the amount of anxiousness from people across the spectrum who want this president to have a challenge, because there’s just a real concern that he’s absolutely unfit,’ he told Politico.
He was confident he could secure enough funding to mount a credible presidential challenge.
‘Abso-freaking-lutely. There’s a drumbeat from a lot of people out there for somebody who wants to take this on,’ he said when asked if he could raise the
‘I think if there is an alternative out there,’ he noted, ‘the money will follow.’