Republicans To Suffer ‘Bloodbath’ In 2020 With Donald Trump As Nominee, Trump Challenger Joe Walsh Predicts
Joe Walsh, the former Tea Party member of congress who is now staging a primary campaign to deny Donald Trump the Republican 2020 nomination, predicted on Saturday that the entire Republican party will suffer a “bloodbath” in next year’s election if the party — as appears inevitable — chooses Trump as its nominee, according to a report by The Daily Mail newspaper.
Walsh, 57, served just one term in the United States House of Representatives after winning the election in 2010 from Illinois, as part of that year’s conservative “Tea Party” Republican wave of congressional victories. But as Ballotpedia records, the first time Walsh ran for reelection, he was soundly defeated by Democrat Tammy Duckworth, a disabled Iraq War veteran.
Though he initially supported Trump, Walsh quickly became disillusioned with Trump and became one of his most outspoken conservative critics, as The Inquisitr has reported. Earlier this month, Walsh issued a public apology for his previous support of Trump.
Earlier this week, Walsh made his candidacy to oppose Trump in the Republican primaries official, as The Inquisitr reported, saying that his sole purpose for running was to expose Trump as “unfit to be president,” which he said, “everybody believes.”
On Saturday, Walsh took to Twitter to issue his prediction of a Republican electoral “bloodbath,” and saying that “Americans are tired of Trump’s bull**** and they’re tired of his drama.” Walsh also called Trump “a child in the White House.”
Friends, I'm in. We can't take four more years of Donald Trump. And that's why I'm running for President.
It won't be easy, but bravery is never easy. But together, we can do it. Join me… join us: go to https://t.co/d40HA9h2Kz.
Let's show the world we're ready to be brave.
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) August 25, 2019
Though political experts and observers give Walsh effectively zero chance of defeating Trump in the Republican primary elections, evidence from the 2018 midterm elections — in which Democrats enjoyed a “blue wave,” winning back control of the House of Representatives — suggests that his prediction of a “bloodbath” for Republicans may be an accurate one.
According to an analysis of the 2018 midterm vote by Vox, one major factor in the sweeping Democratic victories was large numbers of “Never-Trumper and Trump-skeptical voters” who voted for Democrats rather than support candidates who aligned themselves with Trump.
Though Trump continues to enjoy overwhelming support from Republicans, with one recent Gallup poll showing 88 percent of self-described Republicans saying that they back him, those Republicans who are repulsed by Trump turned out to vote in 2018, according to the Vox analysis.
“A small percentage of Republicans who don’t like Trump didn’t stay home — instead, they showed up, and they voted for Democrats,” wrote Vox reporter Jane Coaston.
Walsh may also be able to “cause problems” for Trump simply by attacking him on cable news shows on a daily basis, because as CNN columnist Chris Cillizza wrote, “Trump is incapable of letting an attack go unanswered, no matter where it comes from.”
In fact, Trump has already responded to Walsh with a put-down on Twitter, jabbing at Walsh as “a one-time BAD Congressman from Illinois who lost in his second term by a landslide, then failed in radio.”
