Former President Donald Trump has called on his longtime friend, retired NFL star Herschel Walker to run against Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) in Georgia.
While Walker has made no public announcement about pursuing politics, Trump said it would be “fantastic” if Walker ran for the United States Senate in Georgia.
“He would be unstoppable, just like he was when he played for the Georgia Bulldogs, and in the NFL,” Trump said in a statement, per The Hill. “He is also a GREAT person. Run, Herschel, run!”
Read More: Herschel Walker does not believe in reparations for Black Americans
Walker, who was an NFL running back for 14 years, often defended Trump during his presidency against accusations of racism. At last year’s Republican National Convention, Walker said he takes “it as a personal insult that people think I would have a 37-year friendship with a racist.”
“People who think that don’t know what they’re talking about,” he said. “Growing up in the Deep South, I’ve seen racism up close. I know what it is, and it isn’t Donald Trump.”
In his 2008 book “Breaking Free,” Walker revealed that he suffers from multiple personality disorders and, per Live Science, he even gave his alters names, such as General, Daredevil, Enforcer, and Warrior. He said his various personalities “functioned as a kind of community supporting me.”
“People have to shift themselves and their personalities in so many different areas to be successful,” he said of managing his DID. “You don’t want Herschel Walker the football player, babysitting your kids. Those are two different people.”
In February, Walker said in a Congressional hearing that Black Americans should not receive slavery reparations after Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) introduced HR40 bill in 2019, theGRIO reported.
“This bill establishes the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans. The commission shall examine slavery and discrimination in the colonies and the United States from 1619 to the present and recommend appropriate remedies,” according to Congress.
Read More: NFL icon Herschel Walker says Black people are not oppressed, slams celebs who say otherwise
“My approach is biblical. How can I ask my heavenly father to forgive me if I can’t forgive my brother? My religion teaches togetherness. Reparation teaches separation,” Walker said in his testimony. “Slavery ended over 130 years ago.”
“Reparations: where would the money come from? Does it come from all the other races except the Black taxpayers? Who is Black? What percentage of Black must you be to receive reparations? Do you go to 23andMe or a DNA test to determine the percentage of Blackness?” he continued.
Walker also noted that some Black Americans don’t have ties to ancestors who were slaves.
“Some American ancestors just came to this country 80 years ago, their ancestors weren’t even here during slavery,” Walker added. “Some Black immigrants weren’t here during slavery, nor their ancestors. Some states didn’t even have slavery.”
*theGRIO’s Ashley Terrell contributed to the story.
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