Only One Trump Challenger From GOP Is Left

Former Illinois congressman Joe Walsh ended his Republican primary challenge to President Trump on Friday, abandoning an effort that faced long odds and financial struggles from the start, per the AP. “I’m suspending my campaign, but our fight against the Cult of Trump is just getting started," he tweeted. "I’m committed to doing everything I can to defeat Trump and his enablers this November.” He told CNN Friday morning that the Republican party is "Trump's party ... it's not a party. It's a cult. He can't be beat in the Republican primary, so there's no reason for me, or any candidate really, to be in there. The party has become a cult.”

This line from his CNN interview is getting attention: “I would rather have a socialist in the White House than a dictator, than a king, than Donald Trump," he said, per Deadline. Walsh had cast his ballot for Trump in 2016 and declared he would be “grabbing his musket” if the Trump lost to Hillary Clinton. But Walsh eventually soured on Trump, deriding him as “nuts," “cruel,” and “incompetent.” He has also acknowledged that he helped “create” Trump through his own brand of “personal, ugly politics.” Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld is now the only major Trump challenger remaining in the GOP primary. (Previously, former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford dropped out.)