Right-wing talk show host Joe Walsh tells Salon: Donald Trump "betrayed his country"

[DonViejo]

Talk show host and former congressman on why this happened: Trump “got elected because the Republican Party sucks”

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AMANDA MARCOTTE
JULY 26, 2018 10:00AM (UTC)

Former Illinois congressman Joe Walsh sounds, by most measures, like a very Trumpian character. He snagged his one term in Congress not as a mainstream Republican but as a barnstorming Tea Partier, winning his seat in the massive GOP wave of 2010 before losing it two years later to future Sen. Tammy Duckworth.

Walsh parlayed those two years in Washington into a successful career as a nationally syndicated right-wing talk radio host who has made headlines with racially charged language or insinuations that heavily armed conservatives are on the verge of violence. Or both, as when he tweeted in response to the shooting of Dallas policemen at a Black Lives Matter protest in 2016: "Watch out Obama. Watch out black lives matter punks. Real America is coming after you." Walsh has also had a similarly messy personal life, as evidenced by a spray of news stories about his ex-wife suing him in 2011 over more than $100,000 in unpaid child support.

In recent weeks, Walsh has been getting attention for a different reason: His increasingly loud opposition to Donald Trump. Walsh, who voted for Trump in 2016 and has largely defended the former reality TV show-turned-president, has recently turned sour on Trump, turned off by his trade war and, more importantly, the increasingly hard-to-ignore questions about why Trump has consistently sided with Russia against the U.S.

After Trump's dual press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which Trump appeared to reject the U.S. intelligence consensus about the Russian hacking of Democratic officials in 2016, Walsh Link to tweet
?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1018891221425704960&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsweek.com%2Fdrudge-report-donald-trump-putin-1027035" target="_blank">went on Twitter to declare that Trump was "a traitor" and that he would "never support Trump again." Salon reached out to Walsh to see if he's still feeling this way nearly two weeks after that fateful day.

You’ve been a strong critic of Donald Trump on this Russia issue, both on Twitter and elsewhere, even as most conservatives have stayed pretty quiet. Why is that?

Look, I guess Helsinki last week was the final straw. In my view, Trump, for the world to see, stood in front of the world and betrayed his country. Now, is it surprising? No, because really for 19 months he’s betrayed his country on this central issue of a foreign government attack on our country, and this president has never acknowledged it or done anything about it. As much as I support a hell of a lot of the agenda, because I’m still a Tea Party conservative, that’s like an ultimate betrayal. It’s unforgivable and it’s more important than any policy issues, as far as I’m concerned.

more
https://www.salon.com/2018/07/26/right-wing-talk-show-host-joe-walsh-tells-salon-donald-trump-betrayed-his-country/

[lark]

1. Absolutely SHOCKING!! A RWer who believes in the sovereignity of our country?

Who knew they existed anymore? I thought they were all russian regpus these days, but I guess a few managed to put our nation first. Wish there were more of these fools who are starting to wake up.

[stopbush]

2. Walsh is a pricipled R, the kind who wants to destroy everything good about the USA

without meddling or help from a foreign government.

The Rs were doing OK destroying the country on their own before tRump colluded with Putin. And for what? To cut 5 years off the master plan?

[NatBurner]

3. kudos to joe walsh! he's still a gaping asshole tho