Tea Party favorite freshman Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) took to CNN today to do damage control over his critical remarks about his congressional challenger’s military record. But the appearance quickly went awry, with a frustrated Walsh repeating host Ashleigh Banfield’s name dozens of times as he tried to cut in and speak his mind.
When Banfield asked Walsh if he’d verbally slipped up in saying that opponent Tammy Duckworth—who lost both legs as a result of injuries sustained when an RPG struck her helicopter in Iraq—is not a “true hero” because she talks too much about her military service, Walsh offered no apology but a slight clarification.
“No, Ashleigh, this wasn’t a slip-up. I don’t regret anything I said,” Walsh said. “Understand me. Every man and woman who’s worn the uniform is a hero in my book.”
Walsh blamed the Duckworth campaign for “manufacturing” the story because they’d caught it on tape, though Banfield wouldn’t bite, saying that the comment would have been equally controversial no matter who caught it. As the conversation wound aimlessly around this back and forth, Walsh began repeating, “Ashleigh,” over and over in an attempt to silence the host and return to his talking points in an instance reminiscent of when Michele Bachmann raised her hand and repeatedly called CNN Host Anderson Cooper’s name during a presidential debate last year.
A Huffington Post supercut of the interview shows Walsh saying, “Ashleigh” around 90 times.
By the way, if you think Joe Walsh is kind of a dirtbag for going after double amputee and war heroine Tammy Duckworth like that, clearly you forget how Republicans called Georgia triple amputee and war hero Max Cleland a terrorist sympathizer and Saxby Chambliss won Cleland's Senate seat in 2002.
Joe Walsh is still a deadbeat dad, by the way. But he's betting he can play the race, gender, and amputee card to win in Congress.
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