Donald Trump’s GOP Primary Opponent Says Republican Party Is A Cult, ‘Trump Is Their Cultish Dear Leader’

The man trying to steal the Republican nomination from Donald Trump spoke out against the party after a sound defeat in the first contest, calling the GOP a cult and Trump their “cultish dear leader.”

Former Congressman Joe Walsh had launched a longshot bid to win the Republican nomination, entering the primary along with former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld. While most of the attention on Monday was on the Democratic caucuses in Iowa, there were also Republican contests as both Weld and Walsh attempted to win over voters and take the nomination.

As The Associated Press reported, Trump won handily. The president took more than 97 percent of the vote, with both Weld and Walsh receiving just a little more than 1 percent each.

The former congressman’s message did not land well with voters. Video from the caucus showed Walsh attempting to make his pitch directly to caucusgoers, only to be met with boos.

After the resounding loss, Walsh took to Twitter to admit that he would not be able to pull off the long-shot bid and went on to criticize both Trump and the GOP.

“I can’t beat Donald Trump in the Republican Primary. Nobody can,” he tweeted.

“The Republican Party is a cult. Trump is their cultish dear leader. He can lie, cheat, & break the law. Doesn’t matter. He can do no wrong. But Trump must be stopped. And ALL of us must come together to stop him.”

In a string of tweets after the win, Walsh called on non-Trump-supporting conservatives to come together in a new movement, noting that the 3,000 Republicans he spoke to on caucus night were “like a MAGA rally” and could not come to admit that Trump was a liar.

Though he failed to garner any significant support to start the Republican primary, Walsh does have some people in his corner. Last year, a Minnesota voter filed a legal challenge against his state’s Republican party for not putting any of the other primary candidates on its ballot against Trump.

As the Star-Tribune reported, small business owner Jim Martin said the decision was creating a “Soviet-style” election where voters could only select Trump. He pointed out that Trump’s campaign donated $50,000 to the Republican National Committee, and on the same day, the RNC gave money to the Minnesota Republican Party.

“I want to be in an American election,” Martin said. “It’s something that sets us apart from the world,” he added.

Other states had joined Minnesota in keeping Trump’s opponents off the ballot or canceling primaries entirely.