Trump 2020 challenger Joe Walsh says he is not racist but has said ‘racist things on Twitter’

Conservative talk show host Joe Walsh has got off to a very bad start with his 2020 challenge against Donald Trump.

Walsh, who has become a surprising critic of the president since 2016, announced his 2020 bid on Sunday.

However, you shouldn’t count on him being much use in defeating Trump as his campaign looks like its imploding at the first opportunity.

During an interview on MSNBC yesterday, Walsh was questioned about his long-history of offensive comments by host John Heilemann – including tweets claiming Barack Obama was a Muslim and using racial slurs.

In his defence, Walsh took an unusual approach with his apology.

I wouldn’t call myself a racist, but I’ve said racist things on Twitter. There’s no doubt about it.

Then he went and dug himself further into a hole.

I’ve probably sent out 40,000 tweets in the last six years – no excuse. You and I could find 200-300 that you’d say ‘Walsh, what were you thinking?’ and all I can do is own them and explain them and apologise as sincerely as I can for those that deserve an apology.

You can watch the full exchange below:

Unsurprisingly, Walsh’s defence that he is not a racist person – just a “person who does racist things” – didn’t get the response he was probably hoping for.

And instead of just owning up to the fact that he’d messed up, Walsh went on CNN later that day and doubled down on the statement.

He said:

I think we’re all a little bit racist. We’ve all said racist things.

I bet if you and I went through everybody’s Twitter feed, we’re going to find things that are objectionable and offensive.

It's hard to believe that this is the most credible challenger that the Republicans have to beat Trump…

He also revealed that he has just lost his national radio show – possibly due to his presidential run.

It's been a tough competition this year but congratulations to Joe Walsh for putting together the worst 2020 campaign so far!