Former congressman vows to grab his ‘musket’ if Trump doesn’t win election
Joe Walsh, a former congressman from Illinois, tweeted Wednesday that he would be “grabbing my musket” if Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump loses the Nov. 8 election.
In the tweet, Walsh said he would vote for Trump on Nov. 8 and asked his nearly 78,000 followers: “You in?”
Walsh’s tweet prompted a question from CNN’s Jake Tapper on Twitter.
On November 8th, I'm voting for Trump.
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) October 26, 2016
On November 9th, if Trump loses, I'm grabbing my musket.
You in?
@jaketapper It means protesting. Participating in acts of civil disobedience. Doing what it takes to get our country back.
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) October 26, 2016
Walsh told Yahoo News that he was “talking metaphorically” and was not advocating violence.
“We’re going to protest. We’re going to boycott. We’re going to picket. We’re going to march on Washington. We’re going to stop paying taxes. We’re going to practice civil disobedience. Whatever it takes,” Walsh told Yahoo.
I'm serious. I don't think a musket would do much good these days, but it's time for civil disobedience on the right. https://t.co/ThJPEbALWZ
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) October 26, 2016
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence quickly criticized Walsh’s comments.
“Joe Walsh’s continued vile and violent rhetoric has no place in our political discussion,” the group’s president Dan Gross said in a statement. “Violence dos not make America safe, violence does not make America great. .... (We) cannot allow armed hate to become a new normal in American politics.”
It’s not the first time Walsh — who hosts a syndicated radio show — has made statements about violence on Twitter. After police officers were shot in Dallas in July, Walsh tweeted: “This is now war. Watch out Obama. Watch out black lives matter punks. Real America is coming after you.”
Walsh told CNN that Twitter shut down his account and would only restart it if he deleted the tweet. He also told the network that he “didn’t intend to say everybody go threaten Barack Obama or incite violence against Barack Obama.”
Walsh served one term as a representative from Illinois’ 8th congressional district. He was defeated in his re-election bid in a redrawn district by Tammy Duckworth.
This story was originally published October 26, 2016 at 10:44 PM with the headline "Former congressman vows to grab his ‘musket’ if Trump doesn’t win election."