Story highlights Walsh has made wild threats on Twitter before

He tweeted a controversial message about Obama in the wake of the Dallas shootings

Washington (CNN) Former Rep. Joe Walsh on Friday defended calling on Americans to grab their "musket" if Hillary Clinton is elected president, insisting it was not an incitement to armed revolution.

"When I said grab your musket, I meant, look, if Hillary Clinton wins, if she wins fair and square, then the anger that a lot of Americans have towards our political system -- and she's part of that -- we gotta double down and triple down and do whatever we can to defend our freedom," he told CNN's Chris Cuomo said on "New Day."

The former Illinois congressman said he's used the phrase "grab your musket" multiple times over the past several years but never meant that Donald Trump supporters should literally reach for their firearms.

"If I wanted people to take up arms, why would I recommend people take up an antique like a musket?" Walsh asked. "That's just silly."

Walsh, who was elected with support from the tea party movement, is now a conservative talk radio host, tweeted Wednesday: "On November 8th, I'm voting for Trump. On November 9th, if Trump loses, I'm grabbing my musket. You in?"

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