On Aug. 25, political talk show host Joe Walsh announced that he would run against incumbent President Donald Trump in the 2020 Republican Primary Election.
Walsh is one of just four Republicans that have formally announced their candidacy for the election.
Walsh began his political career in Illinois, where he ran for a spot on the U.S. House of Representatives in 1996 and 1998 respectively. He would lose the election both times. In 2010, Walsh tried his hand at the polls again, running for a spot in the House from the 8th Congressional District. Walsh beat incumbent Representative Melissa Bean by a narrow margin, winning by a total of 48.5 percent of the vote to 48.3 percent.
He’d only hold the spot for one term, as Walsh was downed by Tammy Duckworth with a vote of 55 percent to 45 percent in 2012. After his short-lived congressional career, Walsh moved onto radio, beginning his conservative talk show called The Joe Walsh Show. The show ran from 2013 to 2019, when it was canceled shortly after Walsh announced his candidacy for 2020.
Going into the presidential race, Walsh is strongly against the Affordable Care Act and thusly universal healthcare. Walsh wants to crack down harder along the borders with immigration, but differs from Trump in that he is a believer in the climate change crisis. Walsh believes change does need to be made. He is pro-life, as well as being against gay marriage and the LGBTQ rights (though he has spoken out against Trump’s ban on transgender troops in the military). Walsh also supports the Second Amendment and would be in favor of arming teachers and faculty at schools. He also hopes Trump is impeached.
Joe Walsh leans strongly towards the conservative side with his stances on gun control, universal healthcare and abortion. He is strongly against Donald Trump and the actions and bills he passed during his presidency. But with Trump’s overwhelming approval rating within the Republican party and Walsh’s considerably smaller presence, it will certainly be a longshot for the Illinois man.