Former Rep. Joe Walsh, R-Ill., who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, said Monday he has "given up on the Republican Party," because it has become a "cult" that "is all about washing their leaders' feet every day."
Walsh and his fellow challengers for the nomination, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld and former Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., all criticized leaders of the Republican Party for cancelling primaries in various states in an op-ed released last Friday in The Washington Post. In an appearance on CNN's "New Day" on Monday, the former congressman was asked what he plans on doing in response to the cancellations.
"We're going to take our campaign directly to Republican voters, and I'll add, in all 50 states, we're going to campaign in all 50 states," Walsh said. "We're going to campaign in South Carolina, Arizona, Nevada, and Kansas, because I believe if we let these Republican voters know that the president of the United States just took away their right to vote, they'll march on the headquarters of their state parties to get that right to vote back."
Although Walsh voted for President Donald Trump in 2016, he now considers the president a "would-be dictator."
"I always want to pinch myself and remind myself that this isn't Russia," Walsh said. "I do not live in Russia. I refuse to live in Russia. We can't just cancel elections in this country. That's what Donald Trump is doing. He's literally cancelling elections, and it's very easy to be pissed off at Trump, but we're used to this with Trump. He is a would-be dictator. He would like this to be Russia."
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