Former Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh tweeted Wednesday afternoon that he plans to take up arms if Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump loses on Election Day.
"On November 8th, I’m voting for Trump," Walsh tweeted. "On November 9th, if Trump loses, I’m grabbing my musket," asking his nearly 80,000 Twitter followers, "You in?" [[398768881, C]]
When CNN's Jake Tapper replied, "what exactly does that mean?" Walsh responded, "It means protesting. Participating in acts of civil disobedience. Doing what it takes to get our country back."
Walsh, who hosts a syndicated radio show on AM-560, later told NBC5 that the tweet was tongue-in-cheek.
"We're talking about a musket," Walsh said. "I could've said grab your slingshot and let's go. Metaphorically, I meant grab your muskets, if Trump loses, man, we're going to do what we have to do. We're going to protest and boycott and practice civil disobedience. We may start a third party."
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"We're going to do a lot of things to get our country back, that's what I meant," Walsh added.
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Walsh is no stranger to controversy. In July, he came under fire for an inflammatory tweet after multiple police officers were shot, five fatally, by two snipers at the end of a peaceful protest in Dallas.
“3 Dallas Cops killed, 7 wounded,” Walsh tweeted at the time. "This is now war. Watch out Obama. Watch out black lives matter punks. Real America is coming after you.”
Walsh later tweeted that he “wasn’t calling for violence, against Obama or anyone.”
“Obama’s words & BLM’s deeds have gotten cops killed,” he wrote. “Time for us to defend our cops.”
Walsh served one term in Illinois as the representative for the state’s 8th Congressional District before being defeated by Rep. Tammy Duckworth in 2012.
