Herschel Walker, the Georgia Republican Senate nominee and former NFL player, said he’s “mad” at former President Trump for claiming he was the one who lured Walker into the race to unseat Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.).
“One thing that people don’t know is President Trump never asked me,” Walker said in an interview with the rapper Killer Mike on Revolt TV. “I need to tell him that he never asked. I heard it all on television that ‘he’s going to ask Herschel,’ saying Hershel is going to run. President Trump never came out and said ‘Herschel, will you run for that Senate seat?’”
“So, I’m mad at him, because he never asked, but he’s taking credit that he asked,” Walker said.
Walker, a well-known figure in the Peach State from his days playing football for the University of Georgia, won Trump’s endorsement early on in his Senate campaign. He clinched the GOP nomination to take on Warnock last week, facing little serious competition.
Trump sought to boost Walker in the Senate primary for months, even traveling to Georgia to stump for him earlier this year. Before Walker announced his campaign last year, Trump repeatedly hinted that the former NFL star was considering entering the race.
Walker’s victory in last week’s primary was one of the few bright spots for Trump in Georgia.
In other high-profile contests, Trump’s endorsed candidates were defeated by incumbents whom the former president had vowed to campaign against, including Gov. Brian Kemp (R) who easily dispatched with a primary challenge from Trump’s preferred candidate, former Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.).
But Walker said that Trump did not play a role in his decision to run for Warnock’s Senate seat, pointing instead to his religious beliefs.
“I prayed about it,” he said. “And to be honest with you, I was praying that God would bring somebody else because I’m happy. My life is doing well.”