FILE – In this Nov. 15, 2011, file photo former U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh, R-Ill., gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Walsh, a former Illinois congressman, says he’ll challenge President Donald Trump for the Republican nomination in 2020. The tea party favorite argues that Trump is unfit for the White House. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
While the Democrats have been imploding all over Iowa with an incredibly poorly run caucus show, there actually were Republican caucuses as well.
They didn’t get as much attention because they were well-run, the winner was declared by 8:30 and everyone could go to bed early. Unlike the Democratic debacle.
President Donald Trump got over 97% of the vote and all the delegates. Former Gov. Bill Weld and former Rep. Joe Walsh got none, garnering only a few hundred votes apiece.
Moreover, in an year when Trump is the foregone conclusion candidate, he got out many more people to caucus than in the last time you had an incumbent running, indicating a lot of enthusiasm.
Weld and Walsh had made one last push to get folks over to their side as they pitched to folks caucusing in Northview Middle School in Ankeny, IA on Monday.
.@GovBillWeld finishes his speech after acknowledging that in his opinion, @realDonaldTrump was the best candidate in 2016 who is “different” (which drew laughs from the crowd). He doesn’t attack the President and is given a round of applause.
— Alex Plitsas (@alexplitsas) February 4, 2020
But then Walsh stepped up and spent time scolding Trump. Then he really put his foot in it with his next question for the audience, asking if they wanted “four more years of the Donald Trump show” to which they responded with resounding cheers.
Former Rep Joe Walsh @WalshFreedom concludes by saying that if people want “4 more years of the @realDonaldTrump show… He is then cut off by the crowd who yell “yes!” and applaud loudly #IACaucus #Elections2020 pic.twitter.com/8pZLpGaSko
— Alex Plitsas (@alexplitsas) February 4, 2020
“Last thing I’ll say,” Walsh declared, “If you want four more years of a president who wakes up every morning and makes every day about himself, then vote for Donald Trump.” The crowd booed him heartily for that.
Neither he nor Weld got any supporters.
Walsh, clearly irked, later tweeted that it was clear he didn’t belong in “Trump’s Republican Party.”
For 5 months, I’ve told tens of thousands of Republicans why I believe Donald Trump is unfit to be President. Last night, I stood in front of 3,000 Iowa Republicans & said the same thing. Almost all of them disagreed with me.
Clearly, I don’t belong in Trump’s Republican Party.
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) February 4, 2020
Perhaps he’s going to follow his backer, Bill Kristol, off a cliff into the Democratic Party?
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