Former GOP Rep. Joe Walsh has announced he’s joining the Democratic Party, five years after he first abandoned the Republican Party after building his political career during the Tea Party era. Walsh made the announcement in a post on Substack Thursday, saying, “Three words I never thought I’d ever utter: I’m a Democrat.”

“The stakes are simply too high to NOT become a Democrat. Let me explain why,” he continued in the post. “Let’s start with the obvious—a tyrant sits in the White House. The very thing our Founders feared most is here.”

Walsh attempted to make the case that he’s still the “same passionate TEA partier who went to Congress in 2010 to fight against our out-of-control debt and fight for a more efficient government.”

“I’m still a border hawk, an unabashed gun rights advocate, and an unyielding defender of free speech,” he said, but then added, “I’ve opened my eyes and listened to people who don’t think like me. And by doing so, I gained a greater understanding of and appreciation for LGBTQ issues, structural racism, the need for empathetic immigration reform, the dangers of climate change, and the role government must play to help care for the neediest and most vulnerable among us.”

The former Republican served in the House representing a congressional district in Illinois from 2011 to 2013. Over the last seven years, Walsh has been a very vocal critic of President Donald Trump. That wasn’t always the case.

In Trump’s first term, Walsh was a fan of the president. However, he became highly critical of him halfway through the first administration. He himself attempted to primary Trump in 2020, but failed. He left the GOP not long after, giving former President Joe Biden his endorsement.

“I’m still a conservative, but I’m not a conservative jerk. For the past seven years, I’ve been on a mission to help heal the divide in this country—the divide I helped to create,” Walsh stated in the article.

“Decency, tolerance, understanding, empathy…I now get how vital these all are to our politics, and there’s only one political party these days that values and practices these traits—the Democratic Party,” he stated in the Substack post. “Donald Trump is the worst of us, and, sadly, the rest of the Republican Party emulates his cruelty, dishonesty, and authoritarianism.”

A user on X, reacting to Walsh’s announcement, said, “Joe Walsh is the perfect example of ‘I’ll be a member of whatever political party gets me more attention.’ You have no core beliefs. Anyone that switches parties in their adult life has no core values… because the values of each party are the opposite. You can leave a party, but switching is telling…”

Another stated, “Joe Walsh has no clue about domestic enemies of the US Constitution being the ones who broaden their power base by creating dependency on government. Because he’s one of them.”

SUGGESTED VIDEOS FOR YOU