Herschel Walker’s Black supporters say their votes are about Senate control and conservative values

Many Walker allies idolize him for his football career, winning the Heisman Trophy at the University of Georgia, where he led the school to the 1980 national championship. A newcomer on the political scene, and backed by endorsements from both former President Donald Trump and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the former star running back has been a polarizing figure since he won the Republican primary in May. 

Since then, television ads backed by Democrats have quickly pointed out violent episodes in his past. Walker had also embellished his accomplishments, saying that he graduated from Georgia as an honor student when he did not graduate at all, and that he worked in law enforcement, when he had received only an honorary badge. 

In August, he criticized President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which addresses climate change, saying there were “enough trees” in the country. In July, he falsely stated that Covid had been caused by China and arrived here when America’s clean air traveled to Asia and China’s bad air traveled to the United States. And just last week, his son Christian Walker went on social media blasting his father, who opposes abortion, for being hypocritical over the reports that he had paid for an abortion.

Still, these six Black Republicans seem unmoved, even if Black voters overall appear to present more of an uphill challenge.

Kaaryn Burton Walker — no relation to the candidate — also said she’s willing to look past Walker’s controversies because his win would serve a higher political purpose: to get more Republicans in the Senate. 

“At this point, we just have to roll with it,” said Burton Walker, an Atlanta-area resident who works as a GOP political consultant. “You have to prioritize at this point. I’m not saying Herschel did this or that. … It’s just messy. And it doesn’t matter. It’s not about me, as a Black conservative, and who I support. And because I stick by Herschel does not mean I absolve him of anything he is alleged to have done. It’s not about Herschel. It’s a bigger picture.”

The Black vote was critical in turning Georgia blue in the 2020 presidential election and pushing Biden to the presidency and ultimately Warnock into the Senate.

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