Somewhat predictably, former Republican anti-Trump Rep. Joe Walsh (I-IL) announced on Tuesday that he is joining the Democrat Party, calling President Donald Trump a "tyrant" and saying that the GOP is a "threat to Democracy."

Walsh, who hasn't been a Republican since 2020, made the announcement on Substack.

“Three words I never thought I’d ever utter: I’m a Democrat. This former Republican Congressman, former Republican candidate for President, this former TEA Party champion is formally joining the Democratic Party. The stakes are simply too high to NOT become a Democrat,” Walsh wrote 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. Throw in the fact that one of our two major political parties is a real and direct threat to democracy and the rule of law. These are unprecedented, dangerous times in America. I know it. You know it. There are even Republicans who know it,” he continued.

"Broad coalition"

Walsh briefly ran against Trump in 2020 as a Republican, but once he dropped out of the primary race, he also left the GOP and endorsed Joe Biden in the general election.

Defeating Trump requires “a broad coalition of moderates, progressives, and, yes, even conservatives,” he argued.

He claims he is still “a border hawk, an unabashed gun rights advocate, and an unyielding defender of free speech. But I’m not the same guy as I was 15 years ago, or even eight years ago.”

“I’ve opened my eyes and listened to people who don’t think like me,” he continued. “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.”

Misguided

He has now turned his back on third parties and said those who support them are misguided.

“Without freedom, democracy, and the rule of law, America ceases to be. And currently, only the Democratic Party is on the side of all three of these core American values,” he wrote.

“There isn’t a third party coming to the rescue any time soon,” he continued. “Right now, the Democratic Party is democracy’s lone defender and best hope.”

Talk about misguided--where was Walsh when Biden was trampling all over the Constitution and (now we know) someone in his "politburo" was autopenning all kinds of unconstitutional executive orders.

Biden's actions are much more of a "threat to democracy" as anything Trump ever did, but Walsh has drunk the kool aid and can no longer see it.

He thinks he's being "compassionate" and "decent," but he's sadly deluded if he thinks Democrats embody these things any more than the GOP does.