GOP Candidate Joe Walsh Ends Bid to Challenge Trump

Republican presidential candidate Joe Walsh ended his campaign Friday after receiving just 1 percent support in the Iowa caucuses.

The former radio commentator and congressman from Illinois said he knew he faced an uphill battle for the GOP nomination against incumbent President Donald Trump, but positioned himself as a conservative alternative for delegates who might want another option.

“I am ending my candidacy for president of the United States,” he told CNN. “I got into this because I thought it was really important that there was a Republican out there every day calling out this president for how unfit he is.

“It's Trump's party. It's not a party, it's a cult.”

Walsh said he will keep trying to prevent Trump's re-election by supporting the eventual Democratic Party nominee. He called Trump “literally the greatest threat to this country right now” and said “any Democrat would be better.”

After his lone stint in the U.S. House, Walsh initially supported Trump on his radio program, but the president quickly fell out of his favor.

Republican leadership in several states have arranged their primaries to include only Trump on their ballots, and Walsh's candidacy received no funding from the Republican National Committee. William Weld, the former Massachusetts governor and 2016 vice presidential candidate on the Libertarian Party ticket, is now Trump's only remaining GOP challenger.

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