HANOVER — Former U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh, R-Illinois, was riled up on Wednesday about his party’s inability to stand up to President Donald Trump and said the GOP has turned into a “cult.”
But Walsh, a former Tea Party Republican turned talk-show host, told 15 people who listened to him speak at Dartmouth College’s Rockefeller Center that he was pessimistic about his chances in Tuesday’s New Hampshire Republican primary.
“There’s no Republican that could beat Donald Trump right now. Mitt Romney, if he had run six months ago, would have been smoked,” said Walsh. “I will be smoked because my Republican Party is not a party, it is a cult.”
Walsh and former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld are both running in the Republican primary and favored impeaching Trump. But the impeachment action in Congress appears only to have solidified Trump’s support among the Republican base.
In Monday night’s Iowa Republican caucuses, Trump won 97.1% of the vote to just 1.3% for Weld and 1.1% for Walsh. Walsh said he believed the Senate Republicans who voted to acquit Trump on Wednesday were wrong to do so.
“I’m going to go down there (Washington D.C.) and celebrate Mitt Romney for doing the right thing … Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, I don’t recognize these cowards,” said Walsh.
Walsh reminded attendees that he was a fiscal conservative, not a moderate, and that he does not support proposals like free healthcare or free college. He also argued in favor of campaign finance reform that includes no limits on campaign contributions but instant public disclosure of those contributions. “The system today works to the benefit of wealthy people,” he added.
Walsh did credit Trump for paying attention to what voters who backed him were wanting. “Trump doesn’t believe in a damn thing but Trump,” Walsh said. “Everything out of his mouth is a lie. But he’s the only one who listened to where the base was.”
After the 20-minute appearance, Owen Stoddard, a Dartmouth junior, said Walsh has “definitely got a lot of energy. I was surprised how candid he was about the fact that he doesn’t have a chance. He’s just taking a moral stand in running against Trump, which is definitely refreshing.”
Stoddard also said he plans to vote in the Democratic primary.
Rohan Chakravarty can be reached at rchakravarty@vnews.com or (603) 727- 3248.