Candidate joe walsh. Hes a radio host and former republican congressman from illinois and cspan asked him why hes decided to run for president and hisfeelings about the trump administration. This is half an hour. Joining us from manchester New Hampshire is illinois congressman and republican president ial candidate joe walsh, thanksfor the little. A opening question, why are you running . Its good to be with you im running because i think donald trump is unfit. I think hes a danger to this country. Look, taking on sitting in president is a big deal. Its a tough thing to do and youd better have a darn good reason for doing it and i do. I think trump is a danger. The country would be in real trouble with four more years of him. Wi this is in sharp contrast to what you wrote on twitter in 2016. He said im voting for trump on november 9. If trump loses i am grabbing my musket. Whatschanged . My infamous musket to. I didnt love trump and i didnt like trump. He wasnt hillary. So i think like a lot of republicans steve, it was a pretty easy boat. I figured at that time trump is kind of a booth but maybe he will appoint a few good people and maybe a few good thingsmight happen. I realized pretty quickly steve after he got elected that almost every time he opened his mouth, he told a lie. We have a president who is incapable of telling the truth. When he first got elected i was on the radio, a nationally syndicated radio host. I tried to do the whole good from bad trump thing. When he did something good id praise him, when he did something bad id slap him upside the head. That didnt last very long because again, we got a president who cant tell the truth and when im out on the trail steve, i say that donald trump is unfit. And what i mean by that is i dont think hes capable of telling the truth. I think thats a danger and i think hes incapable of putting the countrys interests ahead of his own. Were seeing that play out withthis ukraine scandal ra right now and thats a danger to , to have a president who simply cant place anybodys interests ahead of his own. Thats a scary thing. If you were in the house of representatives today, would you vote for the articles of impeachment as outlined by nancy pelosi . In a heartbeat, i dont think its a close call but understand i felt like trump deserved to be impeached after i read the mueller report. Thats how crazy this is. Among the report seems like 100 years ago. It just came out last april. And its clearly showed that the president not only welcomed and encouraged a Foreign Government to screw with our elections but then that same president obstructed the very investigation into what russia did. Fast forward a few months, here we are. I dont even know why were having this discussion. Once again, the president of the United States this time pressured another Foreign Government to screw with our elections. If thats not impeachable, then i dont know what is but heres whats sad. If i were still in the house i would vote to impeach and id probably be the only republican to vote to impeach him. That said, because i know most of my former colleagues feel the same way about trump that i do. Theyre justafraid to say. Why is that, why are so many republicans in the house and senate in lockstep President Trump and if you look at the National Polls among republicanss approval is anywhere from 85 to 90 percent area. Theyre not afraid of trump. Theyre in lockstep with trump because theyre afraid of his voters. They think trump is a moron. They think hes incompetent. They think hes a serial liar, they think everything i think about him. Theyreafraid of trumps voters. And we talked about the fact that 80, 90 percent of republicans support trump. I think thats really deceptive and i think that support is soft. Im in New Hampshire today. I was in iowa a couple days ago. Im not exaggerating what i say that about 70 to 80 percent of the republicans that i speak with, they all say the same thing. I like some of the things trumps done. Im sick and tired of him. Im exhausted. Im tired of all of his bs. Im tired of his cruelty. I dont want fourmore years of it. I hear that over and over again from people. I really do. From republicans. What you need to do iniowa and New Hampshire and i know your competitor in this race is also formal governorbill erweld of massachusetts. You talked to him, what are you looking at . I have to let all of these republicans who are genuinely sick of trump and this is really important because they tell me this. Theyll acknowledge like i will, i voted for trump. A couple of the good things hes done but they cannot fathom enduring another four years of the Donald Trumps obama. And so what i have to do is let them know othat there is an alternative. Im a conservative. Im a departing conservative. Youll get a lot of the good conservative policies that you want Republican Voters but youre not going to get the cruel tweets. Youre not going to get its all about me every single day. This is the biggest problem with trump trump doesnt give a damn about anybody else but himself. So were not going to get anything done on the climate. Are not going to get anything done on healthcare, nothing done on infrastructure because its the donald trump show. I have to be an alternative for that area and its not easy. Mistake some of those issues. First, Climate Change. Is it a serious threat . Yes, its real. It exists really is a threat and we need to do something about it. Now, thats sad to say steve but in todays politics, thats a fairly courageous ring for a republican to say. Because donald trump called Climate Change a hoax. This is like the cult of trump. Ive said before my Republican Party, its not a party. Its a cult of personality. Most of my former colleagues, republicans, they understand Climate Change is something we need to do something aabout. Its real but theyre afraid to say anything about that issue the cause trump calls it a hoax. Heres what i know. We need to be at the table. People like me who believe in american innovation. We believe in american entrepreneurship. We believe in america solving problems. Not always via the hand of big government. We need to acknowledge that Climate Change is real and sit at the table to work on solutions. Oo lets talk about gun control. Would you support any type of gun control legislation and if so what . Sure and steve, whats interesting is im a huge Second Amendment guy. Im a big gun guy. Theres no moreprogram person in the country and me. But come on now. If i go across the street and i buy a gun from a licensed gun dealer, ive got to undergo a background check, a federal background check. It just makes sense to me that if i buy a gun online or by a gun at a gun show, i should have to undergo that same background check. Our focus should be on keeping guns out of the hands of people who shouldnt have them. Not going after the 99. 99 percent of gun owners in this country for legal lawabiding gun owners. I think the notion of universal background checks is an idea that both sides can come together on. You were critical of president barack obama essentially saying that his policies were bankrupting the country and i mentioned that becauseas you look at the debt and deficit today, not exceeding 23 trillion , you get ahigher rate under this president , a republican with democrats in the house, republicans in the senate. How do you stem the tide mark. My friend, not a word from my former republican colleagues read your right. I went after obama hard, sometimes i went after president obama to hard and ive apologized for some of that when it came to the debt , when barack obama was president every time our debt increased, every time our deficit increased, myself and all of my former conservative colleagues, we hold the press conference and we would rake barack obama over the coals. As you just acknowledged, President Trump is increasing the debt and a faster clip than barack obama and the republicans dont say squat. Look, the reality is the driver of our debt is healthcare. Our entitlement programs were 23 trillion in debt, the American People are living longer and longer. Thats a good thing, but how do we pay for all of that healthcare for americans living longer and longer . We have to as a country have that conversation. Because if we dont do something about it soaring healthcare costs, we will never get out of this debt. Also critical of president obama was your former colleague mick mobley, white house chief of staff. How is he doing on this issue swith mark. Is failing. But steve, like Mick Mulvaney and i were friends. Jim jordan and i were friends. I dont recognize these i really dont. I mean, they know what donald trump did is wrong. They know that donald trump acts like hes above the law. They know that donald trump ask like a dictator. They know that our founders feared foreign influence in our rselections read it yet Mick Mulvaney and jim jordan, its like its so disappointing. Its like all of my former colleagues , and this is a strong thing to say. But its like they sold their soul. And i just dont understand that. They know what donald trump, they know he doesnt give a darn about the debt but they dont say that. Its like they sold their soul to the be accepted by this president. I find that so discouraging. You said earlier you were a little too hard attimes towards president barack obama. Cite one example where you had to apologize area. On the radio, i called barackobama a muslim. Something for which i profoundly apologize. Look steve, i came out and announced three months ago im running for president and when i announced i was running for president in essence also apologized for help bringing Us Donald Trump. When i went to washington in 2010 i was part of the Tea Party Class and we went there to stop all this government spending. We went there to fight and i was at the tip of the spear fighting on things that i believed in and often times over the course of the last seven, eight, nine years i got over my knees in that fight and i got away from the policy and i engaged in ugly personal attacks, not just against barack obama against other people who i disagreed with personally and i regret a lot of the things ive said and i do believe some of the hateful politics that i practiced and others practiced, i think helped bring Us Donald Trump who is like the personification of ugly personal politics. Ive learned since trump has gotten elected that im done doing that. I dont want to engage in that kind of ugly rhetoric anymore. I want to have spiteful conversations and debates about policy. To that point, lets provide Historical Perspective the cause as you look at the civil rights legislation of the 1960s, Social Security reform under Ronald Reagan in the 1980s and welfare reform in the 1990s, that required democrats and republicans sitting at the table with bipartisan legislation. How do we get back to that point in washington . We have to take the first step which is weve got to get rid of the guy in the white house because as long as donald trump is there, whether i defeat him in the primary or a democrat beats him in the general, hes got to go because as long as donald trump is there, it will be only about donald trump. There will be no big policy debates and discussions. It will be trump 24 seven so then we get rid of trump, trump is gone and republicans and democrats have got to learn again how to debate and fight about issues respectfully and just learn how to come together. Steve, whoever the expresident is there going to have to try to unify the country area and maybe somebody like me who has been involved in the fights and has been pretty divisive. Maybe its going to take somebody like me to say that thats wrong and weve got to come together but look. Weve got to a country at bankrupt. Weve got big profound issues of healthcare and immigration and climate to just name a few that we have to have both parties sitting at the table. Its going to take a real president ial leadership to bring both parties together. Lets talk about you, born in illinois. Nine children, what was it like growing up for you and your family. It was a lot of fun. You come from a big family. It was a lot of fun. Its a lot of fun now when all the kids, when all my siblings wereolder and we got kids and their grandkids. Its like youve got eight or nine great friends. I love the big family. I love my momand dad. They both passed away within the past year and a half. My mom loved politics. She gave me my love for politics. She loved john adams and i love Thomas Jefferson and i genuinely miss all of the debates that we have about jefferson and adams but she gave me my love forpolitics. She was a historian through and through. My mom who raised nine kids, seven boys, the longest lasting image ill always have of my mom and maybe the comic was the story for you. My mom was always the last go to bed and the first one to get up. And my image of my mom is always at 11 00 or midnight or one in the morning after she had cared for nine of us all day and then been there for my dad, my mom with a book often times with a cigarette in her room reading a book until two or three in the morning. She read and read and read. She ate American History which settled down to me because American History is my greatest love. Why did you decide to enter politics in illinoisand at the federal level as a member of congress . I wanted to, ive always been fairly libertarian and freemarket oriented. And ive worried even since i was a young man that weve moved away from the country of our Founding Fathers gave us. That weve moved towards a country where we passed government to do too much and governments has gotten to me and this was 20, 30 years ago, look at where we are today and i wanted to get involved in politics to try to remind americans of what our founders envisioned. An america where you had a Good Government that was there to do certain things but an america with a vibrant state and local governments area vibrant charities, vibrant churches but weve got away from that. I wanted to just sort of teach people about what america was at its founding. You are the founder of five children, how did you meet your wife and i know she has been in politics as well. And in my second wife, so i have three. My beautiful bride lean has to so we have five together. She is my partner. Look, when you do what i do the last nine or 10 years, becoming a congressman, then on the radio around the country speaking around the country and im a lousy detailed guide, somebody needs to be right there with me or iwouldnt know how to walk. She spent a wonderful partner. You mentioned that shes been in politics as well. She was appointed lastyear as an illinois data representative. Which was quite an honor and she served out that term but she loved it as well and its really neat steve, as i do this having a partner right there with me. Where did you go to college . I went to Grinnell College in the middle of iowa or 2 and a half years then transferred to the university of iowa and thats where i graduated with an english degree a long time ago. That gives you an understanding of the first in the Nation Office state. It really does and weve been to iowa a bunch and ill be there a whole lot more next month and a half. I love iowa, steve. Im in New Hampshire right now, ilove New Hampshire as well. I like New Hampshire and people in iowa, they love to be very independent. And they love to be very informed. And they actually want to meet candidates for president. Its really cool. They take their politics very, very seriously. What your childrenthink of the Center Running for the republican president ial nomination . They think its kind of crazy in a good way. They think its a lot. None of my kids are very political. They follow it and they hope for the best. Theyre praying for me and all the rest, but like a lot of my friends and a lot of my siblings, this is a big deal. Not everybody just wakes up and says im going to take on the sitting president of the United States. My kids were surprised. A lot of people were surprised but theyre there for me. What would your parents think of this . My parents love and they were also proud to have been me as a member of congress. I know my mom and dad well enough to know that upon learning of this, both of them would want to slap me a little bit and say joe, my god. Do you really know what youre doing . So there would be some initial concern. But then as they saw me dive into this, and they saw me on cspan and cnn talking about what i believe in and saw me in New Hampshire and iowa, my mom and dad would be rooting for me but they always be read about their little joey you. Let me take that question, do you know what youre doing mark what is your path to the nomination . Thats a great question. Do i know what im doing . Yes and i want to get this out of the way right away. Why am i doing this . Because i want to win. I want to become the republicannominee. This is been the most difficult thing ive ever done in my life. I gave away a life to do this. I threw away my livelihood to do this. I get threats every dayand every week from people around the country. Im doing it to win. Im not dumb or nacve, i know its going to be difficult to win but we have a shot and even with what, weve got eight Republican Party bosses in eight states today that have basically canceled primaries. Disenfranchised Republican Voters so im up against a Republican Party