It’s not very polished, but Herschel Walker speaks to an audience with a lot of conviction and drive. He takes the positions one would expect of a Republican, but finds roots and reasons in his own life story.
He talks about growing up poor in Wrightsville, Georgia. He talks about picking peas and cotton and thinks baling hay is a step up; a better job. He talks about the hard work that led to a Heisman Trophy winner leading the Georgia Bulldogs to a national championship.
He talks about running a business. He talks about his well-known mental health issues and his resulting sensitivity to the topic. He talks about his lifelong support and volunteer work with law enforcement and the military, his faith, and the central role prayer plays in his life.
He discusses the problems of an uncontrolled southern border and the fentanyl — largely made in China — that flows across it and kills nearly 100,000 Americans a year. He talks about the scourge of crime, the folly of disappointing the police and his support for those in blue. He alleges a homelessness problem to the church of his opponent, incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock, pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church where Martin Luther King once preached, and that perhaps this country should try to solve such problems before spending money on more migrants.
Speaking to several hundred mostly Jewish Republicans at an event in the Atlanta suburbs organized by the Republican Jewish Coalition, Walker speaks of his support for Israel. He talks about being buoyed by the Abrahamic Accords that brought peace between Israel and several Arab nations in the Persian Gulf, and about being appalled that this signaling achievement received so little praise from Trump. He flatters people by pointing out the large number of Jewish Nobel Prize winners, which bears no relation to the very small world population of Jews.
He expresses confidence in winning the race – ruled a failure by Real Clear Politics – despite the huge sums of money Warnock has poured into attack advertising. It’s already over $30 million and it’s only August. And he blames Warnock for doing so so he wouldn’t have to defend the Biden administration’s poor record. Warnock voted with Biden 96 percent of the time, Walker tells crowd.
“He’s worse than Bernie Sanders. He’s worse than Elizabeth Warren,” Walker says. He knows whose politics Republicans like to hate.
He connects with audiences who believe in the same values as he does and showed up on a Sunday afternoon to hear him speak and endorse a slate of other Republican candidates running in the House and Senate races. The others each had a few minutes after Walker’s 45-minute speech, although most came to hear Herschel Walker.
You’ll first see a Walker film that sheds light on politics and emphasizes Walker’s sporting nature. There’s footage of him playing and sprinting in his youth, footage of him at Wrightsville, and plenty of footage of a hard-working man relentlessly exercising and training to achieve athletic success.
Coalition President Chuck Berk, moderator of the event, begins by asking Walker softball questions about sports. Who was the best player he ever played with? Reggie White, Secretary of Defense. Who was the best player he ever played against? Also Reggie White, Secretary of Defense. And he accompanied White, who was actually a minister, into the mean streets of South Philadelphia one Friday night, where White impressed him by preaching and ministering to the people of the streets.
What was his most memorable college game? Playing Florida in one of the big Florida-Georgia games is like playing a bowl game in the middle of the season. Who was better, Herschel Walker or Bo Jackson? He votes for himself.
But when they got to the problems — some through questions viewers emailed in ahead of the event — Walker hit the toughest ones first and head-on.
Berk asks him about the allegations of domestic violence in television commercials by his ex-wife, who is speaking on tape. Walker tells the room that the commercial doesn’t show him sitting next to his ex-wife when the footage was captured in 2020 and that the story is a redemption. He spoke about the good relationship he and his wife have with his ex-wife and her husband.
Berk brings up the question of his mental health. Walker – who wrote a book about it almost 20 years ago – says he had a hard time growing up and was bullied because he was a fat kid with a speech impediment. He says he’s coped with it by committing to the sport — rather than drugs or alcohol — but storing a lot of things inside. Walker talks about the initial rejection he went through when he was told he had a mental illness. He talks about how prayer is a big part of his recovery.
He talks about his values. He believes in hard work and that anything is possible for those who put their minds to it. He talks about turning his son’s excessive credit card spending into a teachable moment about debt, making money, and not spending money that doesn’t belong to you.
He criticizes Democrats’ spending laws, particularly their recent $750 billion Inflation Reduction Act, for failing to generate revenue, reduce debt, or lower inflation.
He doesn’t talk much about Donald Trump, although he’s obviously a fan, nor allegations of voter fraud, or January 6th. He doesn’t talk about China or the war in Ukraine. He doesn’t mention gun control or abortion.
Walker is unique among Trump-backed Republicans this year. He’s not sticking as closely to the Trump-candidate playbook of faith, liberty, flag and the Second Amendment, less regulation and lower taxes. He’s not that fluent, this Middle Georgia kid with a speech impediment, but he doesn’t have to be.
Because he’s Herschel Walker and this is Georgia.
consequences