Former GOP Congressman Joe Walsh Challenging Trump in 2020; Joe Arpaio Running For Re-election In Arizona
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN HOST: Conservative radio host Joe Walsh deciding to take on Goliath in 2020. The one time Republican Congressman announced this weekend, he is joining the 2020 presidential race and challenging his own party's incumbent president. Joe Walsh acknowledges it's definitely a long shot.</s>JOE WALSH (R), REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE: The bet I'm making with this campaign and our slogan is "Be Brave," which is come on out. Say publicly what you believe privately. They're keeping their mouth shut. They know that Trump at the top of the ticket is going to be a disaster in 2020. They just want him gone, and then they think the party can get back to normal. That's a bunch of bull, by the way, because if we don't challenge Trump now, the Republican Party will never get back to normal.</s>MATTINGLY: But the odds are not exactly stacked in Walsh's favor. He's known for his own incendiary opinions including calling President Obama a Muslim. He's apologized for many of those comments, but Walsh is also facing a near bulletproof presidential data point. According to the latest Monmouth University poll, President Trump has an 84 percent approval rating amongst Republicans, and that seems to escalate between 80 percent and 90 percent just about every single day. So I guess the big question -- first, let's start with this. Who is Mr. Walsh? Who is the former Congressman Walsh? I want to pull up some of his tweets from prior to now Joe Walsh which include in October of 2016. On November 8th, "I'm voting for Trump." On November 9th, "If Trump loses I'm grabbing my musket, are you in?" On December 31st, 2016, "Obama is a Muslim, Happy New Year." On January 12th, 2018, "To say it's racist to call Haiti a blank-hole is like saying it's racist to say Chicago has a violence problem Haiti is a blank-hole and it's run by blacks. The violence in Chicago is all black on black. Those aren't racist comment, they are just facts.</s>NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: He's sorry for all of those now, though.</s>MATTINGLY: Yes, so it's all good.</s>HENDERSON: Yes. I mean, he -- I think on the "New Day" interview today, he essentially kind of said he was Trump before Trump, and a lot of his rhetoric was only elevated, you know, and amplified by Trump. Trump obviously much more successful than Joe Walsh is. You know, I don't know what he's doing. I don't know if this is just a campaign sort of elevate himself and to, you know, bring, you know, himself attention. But yeah, I mean, I don't know. He knew who Trump was when Trump was campaigning, and he backed him very vehemently and echoed some of his rhetoric. So I don't know now. It's like, "Oh, my bad back then and now he's a different person." I think this is incredible.</s>JULIE PACE, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, ASSOCIATED PRESS: He's starting to make this case that you've heard from a small handful -- declare a small handful of people, including someone like an Anthony Scaramucci, like I thought Trump would be different in office, right? Like I knew who he was, I thought something would change when he got into office, something about being president of the United States would change him. Obviously that hasn't happened and I think that most people didn't actually expect that much would change. I think the fact that Joe Walsh is jumping into this race shows us very little other than the fact there are not a lot of great credible options to primary Donald Trump. I mean, he has strong standing within the Republican Party. Most of the leaders of the party, the influential leaders of the party are on his side. The RNC has taken steps to try to block out a credible primary challenge. Could a combination of Joe Walsh, and Bill Weld, and maybe something else ding him a little bit in maybe New Hampshire primary, for example? Sure. But Trump is going to be the Republican nominee. That is what is going to happen next year.</s>RACHAEL BADE, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: Yes. I think the question is can he throw Trump off his game. I mean, you know, people who are close to the President worry that this guy is going to get under the President's skin. He's not afraid, you know, to throw bombs as you saw from these controversial tweets that he's now expressing regret about. But he is going to go after the President. He's going to attack him, and what that can do is both -- two things, it throws Trump off his message, whatever it is, potentially if Trump responds, it could throw him off his message and what he should be focusing on, and his advisers want him focus on economy, et cetera. And it takes Trump away from his other top target which is, you know, the Democrats and going after the opponents that he's eventually going to face. It also gives a lot of independent voters who typically vote Republican. It reminds them why they don't like the President. They have someone out there on TV saying, "Oh, we can't re-elect somebody who has no morals and who talks, you know, like this. It reminds Republicans who actually voted for Democrats and helped Democrats flip the House and gave it to Nancy Pelosi, why they don't want to support him again.</s>MATTINGLY: Yes, it's interesting. If the President engages with Joe Walsh, like his advisers will, I assume, jump off a building, because there's no reason to do it. But yet that's kind of the pitch, right? He's the guy who can pull him into the morass to some degree.</s>OLIVIER KNOX, CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, SIRIUSXM: He engages with TV programs.</s>HENDERSON: Yes.</s>PACE: Right, yes.</s>HENDERSON: Yes, I think that's right. With SNL and -- yes.</s>KNOX: News flash, he's going to engage with Joe Walsh. I mean, I may say, I will hunt down any news outlet that spends a news cycle reporting on the President's nickname for Joe Walsh, but I think that's where we're heading, right? We're heading for some of a high profile, you know, sad little Joe Walsh or whatever. I think your point is about reminding people about why they don't -- why they might not like Donald Trump is really good. And I keep forgetting your point that the RNC has taken so many steps to block a challenge, which is based on the data is kind of a curious thing to do. So the question is, after Joe Walsh, I mean, right now it's sort of a veritable who is that of Republican politics challenging the President. But what if someone with a compelling story, I mean, (inaudible) get Justin Amash in this race, see what happens there. You got a real complete --</s>PACE: I mean, what is the reason -- yes.</s>BADE: Yes, yes.</s>KNOX: Not a Trump thing that competing with the vision of government.</s>PACE: One of the reasons that the RNC and some states as well have taken these steps is because there has been this concern. Look, we all know, everyone in Washington knows that Republicans privately worry about what happens to their party if Trump gets a second term. That is a real conversation that happens. So there's always been the possibility that a John Kasich, Justin Amash, there's a lot of talk about maybe Mitt Romney jumping in and launching a really credible challenge. But we've seen no actual action, I mean, that is largely a suicide mission for one of these people to try to take that on and so far no one has shown a willingness to want to do it.</s>MATTINGLY: Yes. Look, one of the things I've been struck -- there goes my pen. One of the things I've been struck with, I'm so struck I threw my pen is that, the people who have gotten behind Joe Walsh, the Never Trump folks, and that's not all of them but some of them who have and have gotten behind him in a major way. Like if this is the best you think you can do, and all due respect to Joe Walsh, this is not a player. This is not the name. If you're willing to commit to him, then you don't think anything else is coming, President Trump is in pretty good shape I think in the Republican Party, all right. Up next, the former Arizona sheriff who made inmates wear pink underwear, guess what, he wants his old job back.