Former football great Herschel Walker will run for the U.S. Senate in Georgia, according to Donald Trump, who broke the news on a conservative radio show. There’s just one big problem: Walker lives in Texas.
“He told me he’s going to, and I think he will. I had dinner with him a week ago. He’s a great guy. He’s a patriot. And he’s a very loyal person, he’s a very strong person. They love him in Georgia, I’ll tell you,” Trump said of the Georgia Bulldog Heisman Trophy winner.
Walker, a Republican, would challenge Democratic incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock in the 2022 midterms. Warnock won a special election to finish the term of Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson, who retired in 2019.
But before that happens, Walker would have to move to Georgia. He recently tweeted a video showing a muscle car with a Georgia license plate (presumably it was his).
The Atlanta-Journal Constitution explains that Trump’s announcement shouldn’t be confused with a fact:
Since Trump has a lengthy history of making announcements about other people that turn out to be not 100% true, we looked for more from Walker, who released a statement to the AJC last night saying he expects to announce a decision soon.
“Georgia is my home — I love Georgia, and I love this country,” Walker said in the statement. “And I believe we need fighters to step forward and help save both. Know this much: If I run, I’ll be all-in, and we will do whatever it takes to win for Georgia.”
Walker is considered one of the greatest college football players of all time, but he’s never held elected office. However, he has an extensive history with the most influential power broker in GOP politics: Trump. Walker played on Trump’s USFL football team (until the league failed) and appeared on a season of The Celebrity Apprentice (7th place – behind Joan and Melissa Rivers). He has supported Trump even as the former president has refused to accept the results of the 2020 election.
“They have the ballads, they made ballads to Herschel. They still sing them all the time. So I think beating him would be very tough. And I think he’s going to run,” Trump said on Tuesday.
Walker has struggled with mental illness and been an advocate for mental health awareness. But he’s also had episodes of violence. From The Bulwark:
In the 2008 interview his ex-wife said “we were talking and the next thing I knew he just kind of raged and he got a gun and put it to my temple.” She later attributed it to one of Walker’s alternate personalities saying, “there was somebody there that was evil.” Walker subsequently “threatened to kill his wife, his wife’s friend, and his therapist” in a therapy session.
In 2015 Walker told ESPN that he used to play “Russian Roulette” when guests came to his home. He described these encounters as part of a test of wills, where he would demand that anyone who wanted to challenge him in an athletic endeavor first demonstrate their strength by participating.
Prominent Republicans have been reluctant to enter the Georgia Senate race until Trump picks a favorite; he’s still extremely popular in the state. Warnock also has an enthusiastic base and six million dollars in his campaign war chest.