Former Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh has a chilling warning if Donald Trump is indicted when the January 6 committee concludes the hearings. In an interview with Salon, [1] he said he believes some of the former President’s more radicalized supporters may become violent.
“There is a percentage of Trump’s followers who would become violent,” said Walsh, who formerly supported Trump. “There would be a major uptick in violence from the right around this country if Donald Trump was indicted. He is their cult leader. They would see it as ‘the Deep State’ going after their leader. There would be major violence.”
This, unfortunately, seems very plausible, especially when you consider that so many of his followers attacked the U.S. Capitol building, goaded on by the former president during his “Stop The Steal” rally at the Ellipse on January 6, 2021.
Walsh, who now has his own podcast said the anger is palpable when some of the MAGA crowd began calling into his show after the Jan.6 hearings began, per Newsweek. [2]
“There is a lot of anger at these hearings and also a lot of defensiveness about January 6,” he said. “The MAGA followers are not watching the hearings, but they’re hearing about them. Some bad things about Trump are being confirmed that the MAGA people suspected he did, and they don’t like having to deal with it. The MAGA followers are getting very mad at people like me and others who have been telling the truth about Trump and the coup since it happened.”
Walsh, however, isn’t someone who’s been without controversy himself. Before leaving the Republican Party, he made statements that were themselves incendiary, not unlike Trump. He was a very vocal critic of Barack Obama and his administration and allegedly made racist comments on Twitter and on air during his radio show.
Frustrated after receiving only 1.1 percent of the votes at the Iowa Republican presidential caucuses in February 2020, Walsh parted company with the Republican Party and called it a “cult. He’s now an Independent.
And Walsh’s sentiments are echoed by Donald Trump’s niece, Mary Trump, who is warning that Trump will “turn on everybody” if he is indicted. That’s what she had to say during an episode of the Thom Hartmann Program last week.
Trump’s chances of being indicted in Georgia are also growing, said attorney Norman Eisen in an interview with The New York Times last week. Eisen is a legal expert who served as special counsel to the House Judiciary Committee during Trump’s first impeachment.
Walsh, however, isn’t holding his breath about Trump being indicted.
“I still believe nothing will happen to Trump,” he told Salon.
“Perhaps a few of the people around Trump will get indicted,” Walsh said. “I do not believe that the DOJ can or will go after Trump. They believe that it is just too difficult and risky to prosecute a former president. There may also be some wiggle room for Trump where his attorneys claim that he is not mentally competent or something of that sort. It would really be hard to convict him.”
Walsh has a definite point here. It’s almost like Trump is a greased pig, who seems to slide through just about every scandal he’s been involved in. But the situation could take an even nastier turn.
“If you don’t convict that evil man, if you indict him and don’t convict him, he becomes a god to his followers,” Walsh said. “Worst case scenario, Trump becomes a god to people outside of MAGA world if the DOJ goes after him and is not successful. Trump may actually end up being more powerful.
I wish I could end this on a happier note. Maybe we’ll all be pleasantly surprised and he will be convicted. I’m just not holding my breath.