Former Congressman Walsh considers Capitol rioters “fools for believing Trump”

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — Having sat through many presidential election certifications, former Syracuse-area Republican Congressman Jim Walsh says the proceedings are supposed to be boring. Instead, he watched on television as his beloved former office was taken over by insurrectionists.

In an interview Thursday, Walsh said, “President Trump has that – that’s his legacy. What he will be remembered for more than anything else – this violence that he incited and those poor fools who believed him.”

Walsh didn’t support outgoing President Donald Trump as a candidate in 2016. In 2020, the loyal Republican took his opposition a step further by publicly supporting Democrat Joe Biden.

Walsh is now critical of Trump’s constant lies about the election results.

“It’s like the old Nazi big lie,” Walsh feels. “You tell it often enough, people will believe it and that’s what he did. This is the result of that. That attack on the Capitol was the direct result of the president badgering these people with this lie and filling them up with outrage.”

Walsh says the rioters should be prosecuted.

As for President Trump, who Walsh thinks committed a crime by refusing to deploy the National Guard, his advice is to ignore him for the remaining days of his term.

Walsh, who says he escorted hundreds of his Central New York constituents on tours of the Capitol, says he was impressed with Congress’ return to its responsibility the night after the attack.

He said it reminded him of September 11, 2001, when Walsh and his fellow members of Congress used the steps of the Capitol to sing “America The Beautiful.”