Joe Walsh

{{hatnote|Not to be confused with {{wpl|Joe Walsh|the guitarist}} from {{wpl|Eagles (band)|Eagles|.}}}}
[[File:Rep_Joe_Walsh.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Sadly, this is what qualifies for being a "moderate" Republican in this day and age.]]
{{uspolitics}}{{sources needed}}
'''William Joseph "Joe" Walsh''' {{lived|1961}} is a former Congressman and arguably one of the poster boys of the [[Tea Party]]. He represented [[Illinois]]'s 8<sup>th</sup> district in the [[United States House of Representatives]] from January 3, 2011 to January 3, 2013, and is currently a [[conservative talk radio]] host and also hosts his own show on ''[[Newsmax|Newsmax TV]]''.

==As a congressman==
Walsh was elected to the House of Representatives, defeating [[Democrat]] Melissa Bean, despite not being particularly favored by established [[Republicans]] in the House, though he did receive support from the [[Tea Party]], and he received donations from various [[Political action group|PACs]] and [[lobbyist]]s, which drew criticism from ''[[The New York Times]]''. 

Walsh was a staunch opponent of [[Obamacare]] (because of course he was) and announced that he would not accept congressional health care benefits because of that.

Walsh also criticized everything else that [[Obama]] or the Democrats did, because, of course he did. He notably posted a video to [[YouTube]] where he claimed that Obama was bankrupting the country. He consistently voted against raising the federal debt ceiling and authored a Balanced Budget Amendment to the [[United States Constitution]]. Walsh has also said that President Obama was elected "[[Bullshit|because he pushed that magical button: a black man who was articulate, liberal, the whole white guilt, all of that]]." 

In September 2011, Walsh was among 19 members of Congress who were criticized for ethics violations in the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington's annual report.

A few months after that, he was caught on video swearing at one of his constituents who questioned him about remarks defending the banks.

Probably his only real achievement in Congress was holding 363 town hall meetings, more than any other member of Congress.

==As a radio host==
After losing reelection to Tammy Duckworth (beaten by an Asian-American woman, ha!), Walsh started up his own conservative radio talk show, ''The Joe Walsh Show'', which at times broadcasts a level of conservative [[Wingnut|wingnuttery]] that would make [[Rush Limbaugh]] proud. In its earlier days, ''The Joe Walsh Show'' continued to constantly bash Obama — so it wasn't much different from his tenure in Congress. He's also used [[racial slur]]s, insulted [[rape]] victims, the media, [[Islam]], [[Black Lives Matter]], and [[liberals|teh evul liberals]].

On December 19, 2015, Walsh announced that he would run for [[President of the United States]] in 2020 if [[Hillary Clinton]] won the 2016 presidential election. In October 2016, he voiced his support for [[Donald Trump]] and said he'd be "[[Gun nut|grabbing [his] musket]]" if Hillary won (though he later claimed that he was just encouraging [[civil disobedience]]).

Surprisingly, Walsh has had two [[stopped clock]] moments in 2017, both on [[Twitter]]. On December 7, Walsh spoke against Donald Trump defending [[Russia]] and attacking the [[FBI]], calling it "bullshit" (like he's one to call BS on others). On Christmas Eve, Walsh also railed against Trump for again attacking the FBI and [[CNN]] on Christmas Eve. He told Trump to "put [his] phone down" and "go spend time with [his] family", ending it with "Have you no sense of decency?"

However, Walsh has since gone back to his normal bullshitting, describing the "dismantling of Obama's legacy" as "wonderful to watch" in the aftermath of Donald Trump ending the Iran Deal, and also constantly praising [[Israel]] and claiming that the Democrats have essentially become [[communists]].

==Fighting the cult of Trump==
Shortly after President Trump's summit with [[Vladimir Putin]] in July 2018, Walsh [[Improbable things happen|did the unthinkable]] and rescinded his support for Trump completely, calling him a "traitor to his country", and that he'd "never support him again."<ref>http://archive.ph/wip/qAkGe</ref> On August 25, 2019, Walsh announced that he would challenge Trump in the [[2020 U.S. presidential election]].<ref>[https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/exclusive-joe-walsh-announces-republican-primary-challenge-president/story?id=65122073 "'THIS WEEK' EXCLUSIVE: Joe Walsh announces Republican primary challenge against Trump"] by Will Steakin, ABC News, 2019 August 25</ref> According to Walsh, this announcement caused [[Salem Radio Network]], who had been syndicating Walsh's conservative talk radio show, to cancel it, perhaps due to his critical stance on Trump.<ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/media/joe-walsh-says-hes-lost-radio-show-since-launching-trump-challenge "Joe Walsh says he's lost radio show since launching Trump challenge"] by Joseph Wulfsohn, Fox News, 2019 August 26</ref> (Salem's official explanation was that, since Walsh was a presidential candidate, they had to cancel Walsh's three-hours-daily talk show because hosting this show would violate the FCC's {{wpl|Equal-time rule||).}}<ref name="federwalshpres">[https://www.robertfeder.com/2019/08/27/presidential-candidate-joe-walsh-im-done-talk-radio/ "Presidential candidate Joe Walsh: ‘I’m done with talk radio’"] by Robert Feder, RobertFeder.com, 2019 August 27</ref>

Following his failed run in the 2020 Republican primaries, he declared that the GOP had become little more than a Trump cult and that he would vote for whichever Democrat won the nomination, even if they were [[socialist]].<ref>http://archive.ph/RJirm</ref><ref>https://www.marketwatch.com/story/republican-joe-walsh-drops-out-of-the-presidential-race-calls-gop-a-cult-and-trump-its-cult-leader-2020-02-07</ref> He subsequently left the GOP and is now an independent.

Despite having previously said that he was "done with talk radio",<ref name="federwalshpres"></ref> on June 1<sup>st</sup> 2020, Walsh got another chance to host a talk show, this time distributed by the Global American Broadcasting (GAB) Radio Network.<ref>[https://www.robertfeder.com/2020/05/30/excited-back-joe-walsh-launch-national-radio-talk-show-monday/ "‘Excited to be back,’ Joe Walsh to launch national radio talk show Monday"] by Robert Feder, RobertFeder.com, 2020 May 30</ref> On May 27<sup>th</sup> 2021, Walsh announced that this show had also been cancelled. According to Walsh, this cancellation was due to his critical stance on Trump.<ref>[https://thehill.com/homenews/media/555707-joe-walsh-says-radio-show-cancelled-due-to-trump-criticism "Joe Walsh says radio show canceled due to Trump criticism"] by Thomas Moore, The Hill, 2021 May 27</ref>

==References==
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Categories: 2020 US Presidential candidates, Antifeminism, Chickenhawks, Christians, Conspiracy theorists, Former United States Representatives, Global warming denialists, Gun nuts, Homophobes, Islamophobes, Leftists who turned right with age, Living people, Political pundits, Racists, Radio, Right-wing activists, Rightists who turned left with age, Tea Party, Transphobes