A Political Asshole No More

About this episode

Joe Walsh discusses his political transformation and the importance of recognizing humanity in political discourse.

On this episode of How To Really Run A City , innovation in cities takes a backseat to a more pressing question: How do we find our way back to recognizing the humanity in one another? Our guest: Joe Walsh, a former Representative from Illinois. He was a self-described Tea Party arsonist, right-wing radio provocateur and mentor to Turning Point USA's Charlie Kirk. All of that changed when Donald Trump rode down an escalator and completely captured the Republican Party. "It was never this way with Reagan, with Bush, with old-man Bush, this is something completely different," Walsh told our hosts, former Philly Mayor Michael Nutter and Citizen Co-founder Larry Platt. (Former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed was unable to attend.) Walsh's public split from his party made him a target of MAGA loyalists, who to this day threaten him and his family. Still, he's not backing down. "I helped to divide this country," Walsh said. "People like me helped put us on this road. I have to live with that." As a newly-minted Democrat, Walsh tours the country connecting with people from across the political spectrum. "Do you leave these conversations hopeful or less hopeful?" Platt asked. "I'm right down…

People in this episode

Hosts: Michael Nutter, Larry Platt

Guest: Joe Walsh

Topics covered

• political division
• civility
• humanity
• national debate
• party affiliation
• hope and despair

Keywords

• Joe Walsh
• political transformation
• civility
• Republican Party
• national divorce
• Tea Party
• MAGA
• hope
• political spectrum

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Turning Point USA, Republican Party, Tea Party, MAGA

Places: Illinois, United States

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